Identity: A Renesmee Cullen and Jacob Black Story
by ytsgrl
Summary: I can say with 100% certainty that my life is a life of uncertainty, as ironic as that may be. I am Renesmee Carlie Cullen. Only daughter of Edward and Bella Cullen. Half-human, half-vampire. I am best friend's with a werewolf named Jacob Black.
1. Identity: Prologue

_**A/N: Hi! This is my first attempt at Twilight fan fiction as I have only just become a Twilight fan um.. about a week ago. WARNING: If you have not read all 4 books of the Twilight Saga completely, but do intend to, do not read this story. This takes place as a sort of alternate ending/continuation to Breaking Dawn and therefore will RUIN the book if you have not already read it. Please review the prologue and tell me what you think. It's short, I know, but I just want to see if you all think it's worth it to continue. :)  
**_

_**Words in bold italics below are rewritten from Breaking Dawn as if they were seen more from Jacob's point of view but the dialogue is taken directly from Breaking Dawn which belongs to Stephanie Meyer, not me. I in absolutely no way own the rights to the words nor do I have any rights to the characters that Stephanie so lovingly created and allows us to work with. The words are written here for emphasis only.**_

**Prologue**

Jacob Black lay quietly at the edge of the forest. He knew no one would dare pass close enough to the wooded area to see him, but should they, he would have sensed them before they saw him and disappeared. He was merely a lone wolf who had been lying quietly beneath the brush. Today, the 10th day of September, his thoughts were clouded, remembering…

_**Jacob watched Bella and Renesmee from the corner of his eye as Bella carefully slipped her daughter from around her neck and moved her into her arms.**_

_**"You remember what I told you?" She had whispered and tears had welled up in Renesmee's young eyes as she nodded.**_

_**"I love you," Renesmee whispered.**_

_**Edward was watching them too, his topaz eyes wide.**_

_**"I love you, too," Bella said, "More than my own life."**_

_**Mother and daughter embraced, a kiss to her daughter's forehead before she stretched to whisper into Jacob's ear.**_

_**"Wait until they are totally distracted, then run with her. Get as far from this place as you possibly can. When you've gone as far as you can on foot, she has what you need to get you in the air."**_

How could one day change your life so immeasurably? Jacob remembered the events as if they had occurred yesterday instead of almost 8 years before.

**_"__You're the only one we could ever trust her with," Bella murmured to him. "If you didn't love her so much, I could never bear this. I know you can protect her, Jacob."_**

**_Jacob whined and dipped his head to nudge Bella's shoulder, hoping she would understand what he couldn't communicate verbally._**

**_"__I know," she whispered. "I love you too, Jake. You'll always be my best man."_**

**_Jacob let one solitary tear roll into his fur before Edward leaned his head to Jacob's shoulder as well. Renesmee was already in place, holding to him tightly. _**

**_"__Goodbye, Jacob, my brother… my son."_**

Jacob's wolf senses picked up the sound of the small sedan he listened for everyday stopping in front of the house he was watching in suburban wonderland. A quarter mile away, it would take his charge only a few minutes to reach the spot where he was lying. She was fast. Like her father.

_**"Is there no hope, then?" Carlisle whispered. There was no fear in his voice. Just determination and acceptance. Jacob sat poised, ready for the moment when he would have to turn and run with the small girl on his back.**_

_**"There is absolutely hope," Bella responded. "I only know my own fate."**_

_**Edward and Bella held hands. He knew that he was included in her words as there was no question that when she spoke of fate, she spoke of both their fates. Each one of them was just one half of a whole, fates intertwined.  
**_

She was in his eyesight quickly and if he could have smiled as a wolf, he would have. The sight of her never ceased to amaze him. Her long auburn curls cascading to her waist, blowing in the wind as she ran. The chocolate brown eyes she had inherited from her mother, sparkling in the sunlight. Her alabaster skin glowed and her cheeks were even rosier than usual as she finally came to stop, standing right in front of Jacob.

He though to himself that had he not imprinted on her when she was just a few minutes old, he would have still loved this girl with all his heart. To him, she was perfect in every way.

"Hello my Jacob." Renesmee, the 8 year old who looked eighteen, stared down at the wolf she loved so much and threw her arms around his furry neck in a warm embrace.

_**"Get ready," Bella whispered, not only to Jacob, but to the others who stood around her, prepared for the battle. "It's starting."**_


	2. Identity: Chapter One

**Chapter One**

**Renesmee POV**

I can say with 100% certainty that my life is a life of uncertainty, as ironic as that may be.

I have been many people. Vanessa Wolfe. Carlie Doyle. Renee Pate.

I have lived with many families. Isaac and Carla Cunningham. Scott and Davina Parker. Paul and Wendy Newton.

I have had many friends. Nina James. Bobby Noon. Margaret Cassidy. Veronica Marcessi. Oliver Keegan.

I have lived in 9 cities in 5 countries, some stays were longer than others.

Despite all outwardly appearances, I am 8 years old.

I am Renesmee Carlie Cullen. Only daughter of Edward and Bella Cullen. Half-human, half-vampire. Granddaughter of Charlie Swan and Renee Dwyer on my mother's side and Carlisle and Esme Cullen on my father's side.

I am best friend's with a werewolf named Jacob Black.

"How was your day sweetheart?"

My foster mother interrupted my random thoughts at dinner, which almost always centered around finding a way to dispose of this mush she called food. It lay tauntingly on my dinner plate but I couldn't make it obvious I wasn't going to eat it without questions arising.

"Fine." I replied with a shrug, idly shifting my peas from one side of the plate to the other, "I got an A on my physics exam."

"That's fabulous." She grinned, looking up at my foster father Gary for his reaction too, "The better you do in physics the more likely you'll get that scholarship to UCLA like you want."

"That's not what she wants Brenda. That's what you want." Gary smiled and reached out to squeeze my hand which rested on the dinner table, "USC is just as good and they have a better pre-med program anyway."

I didn't need to say a word for them to begin bickering over the selection of colleges I could choose from. Brenda preferred UCLA because that was where she had obtained her physical therapy degree. Gary preferred USC because that was where he had played football. I didn't have the heart to tell them I wouldn't be attending either colleges. Not yet.

Even though I am only 8 years old, I look, act, and think as if I am 18. I was no longer growing so as far as I could tell, I would always be 18. Just like my mother. No more aging. No dying. Immortal… at least as far as we knew.

Immortality both intrigued and scared me. I wished with all my heart that my parents, the ones whose genes had created me, not the ones who continued to discuss my trivial college career path, were still around. If they had been, they could have answered questions, soothed me, explained immortality to me. As it stood, I had no more idea what to expect of immortality then I did of the wind. Which way would it blow the next time I stepped outside my front door? I had no idea.

"Can I be excused?" I blurted out, immediately halting their discussion.

Brenda's wide blue eyes met my chocolate brown ones with confusion. One single piece of her straight blonde hair had fallen across them but she made no moves to remove it from her line of sight. Gary was staring at her with his hazel orbs, a look of perplexity etched in his furrowed brows. He ran his fingers absentmindedly through the small patch of deep black hair he had left and nodded.

Without another word I grabbed my plate from the table and headed for the kitchen, swiftly releasing the contents of my dinner into the trash can, dropping the plate into the sink and then running upstairs to the confines of my bedroom before any questions could be asked. With my enhanced hearing I could hear them whisper downstairs, wondering what had suddenly gotten into me and whether one of them should come to check on me.

As hard as they tried, they were not my family, and they never could be. I wish they would just understand that.

"Hey."

I jumped three feet into the air when the baritone voice whispered to me in the still darkness of my bedroom. I was prepared to quite literally kill whoever happened to be waiting for me there but when I switched on the lights I was relieved. It was just Jacob.

"Do not scare me like that!" I hissed at him, eyeing the way he lounged lazily on my bed, flipping languidly through the book I had left on my bedside table, "I could have killed you!"

"You could have tried." He grinned at me, that lopsided grin which echoed his personality perfectly, "Fat lot of good enhanced senses do you if you can't even sense a werewolf hanging out in your bedroom. What if I had been the one come to kill you?"

"You could have tried." I threw his words back at him hastily and then sighed, "What are you doing stalking me anyway? I thought we agreed that it was too dangerous for you to hang out in here while Brenda and Gary are awake."

"I'm making an exception for your Birthday." Jacob tossed the book back onto my nightstand and stood up from the bed.

Jacob Black never ceased to amaze me. His height and mass always overwhelmed a room but more than that, his musky aroma invigorated my senses. I was indeed amazed, now that I thought about it, that I hadn't recognized the scent before I had even opened my bedroom door. With him standing near me, it was hard to breathe and it wasn't because I didn't like the way he smelled, it was because I liked it almost too much.

"Oh please, let's not start that again. I already told you this afternoon while we were hunting that I wanted no presents, no celebration, no…"

"I didn't get to argue with you about it then but I can now and I say that I don't care what you say. You get a present. Just one, because I'm the only one who knows today is your real birthday, but one present." Jacob took one large stride and he was by my side, reaching out for my hand.

My breath hitched, like it always did when he touched me. He gently lifted my hand to his face, closing his eyes but not pressing my fingertips to his face. He would wait for my okay. He wouldn't make me tell him my thoughts unless I wanted to.

"Will you tell me about your day?" Jacob asked hesitantly when I didn't automatically let my hand rest against his cheek. He peeked between his eyelashes and flashed me another devastating smile.

Luckily I could control what I told him about or else he would have gotten nothing but flashes about himself as I let my fingers lightly graze the skin of his cheek, communicating the events of my day through pictures which transmitted directly into his head.

"Thank you." Jacob opened his eyes slowly to stare directly down into my eyes as he guided my hand away from his face but didn't let go, "You know I love hunting with you in the afternoons but it's just not the same unless we can be face to face, like this."

I wasn't sure when our dynamic had changed to this. Jacob was the one constant in my life. He had been there for me from the very beginning. He was my best friend and my protector. He was the one person in the world who knew my true identity and yet, sometime in the past year, and I couldn't pin point exactly when, he seemed to be adding a new role to the list of things he was to me. I wouldn't go so far to say boyfriend, it definitely wasn't that… yet. I could only say it was electric, magnetic, and all very new to me.

"So a present?" I half squeaked, half spoke.

"A present." Jacob brought my wrist up and held it in one of his gigantic hands while using his other to search through the pockets of his cargo shorts, "Hold on. It's here somewhere."

After a few minutes of digging around with one hand he finally got frustrated and released the hand he had been holding up, turning in circles trying to reach the pocket with both hands and being unsuccessful. I giggled, holding back the full belly laughs I wanted to release.

"You know, I understand when you're chasing your tail as a dog but this? This is too good."

Jacob stopped, his eyes flickering to mine as he glared at me. I was still smiling. I knew he wouldn't take my joke seriously.

"You're lucky you're parents are still awake. I would tickle you to death." He threatened.

"They're not my parents." I retorted quickly and all trace of laughter escaped from the room.

Jacob's eyes met mine sorrowfully. I knew he hadn't meant anything by the remark but my defenses flew up anyway. No one would ever replace the void my parents death had left in my steadily beating heart. Jacob of all people understood that.

My hand locked itself around the locket my mother had given me on my first Christmas. The tears sprang into my eyes and before I knew what was happening Jacob had gathered me into his arms, holding me tight.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." Jacob whispered quietly in my ear, "Please forgive me Nessie. I'm so sorry."

"Vanessa!" Brenda called out from the hallway.

"Quick." I hissed urgently, "Get out, get out."

Jacob took a running leap at the open window, diving out of it without a second thought. I would trust he had landed safely. I didn't have time to go check on him. I wiped away the tears that had been threatening to spill over and quickly glanced at my reflection in my wardrobe mirror. It would have to do.

_Knock, knock._

The quiet rap on my bedroom door gave me enough time to whisk myself into my desk chair on the other side of the room before the door cracked open. The chair was still spinning in circles, a smile on my face as I stared up at the ceiling, as if nothing in the world delighted me more than making myself dizzy by spinning in a chair.

"Hey sweetheart."

I looked up at Brenda and she grinned at me.

"Just thought I would come check on you. You left dinner so abruptly, I just wanted to make sure nothing serious was wrong."

I shook my head, once again the tears threatening to spill over as even the thought of what was really on my mind came back to me. My hand went to my locket again.

"I've just got a lot on my mind." I finally spoke when my emotions were at least partially under control, "College acceptances are starting to come in. Homework. Graduation. Finals."

None of the four were actually on my mind.

"Well I'm so sorry honey, we didn't mean to upset you. You know Gary and I will be happy with whatever college you choose. We have our preferences but don't worry about disappointing us okay? From the moment you showed up on our doorstep you have never ever been a disappointment and we don't foresee that ever happening."

She took the liberty to sit down on my bed and watch me as I contemplated how to answer her. The easiest answer was to thank her and tell her that I was worried about disappointing them and how I now felt so much better about it. I wanted to tell her that I wasn't going to college and see how much disappointment washed over her face despite her pronouncement that she would not be disappointed in me, but that would hurt her and Gary too much. No, I couldn't disappoint them. I liked them but then again, I had also liked the other foster parents who had come before them. In the end, none of them really mattered.

"Brenda, it's just… I know that you and Gary have all these plans for me and I appreciate it. I really do." I tried to formulate the nicest possible way of telling her that she wasn't my mother and therefore had no right to have any plan for me at all, "It's just that I'm 18 now and I appreciate that you guys were willing to let me stay until I graduated even though technically I am no longer a ward of the state but I just don't… I…"

My stuttering combined with the emotion that was still in my words from before must have struck a chord. Brenda started to cry and she immediately moved to my side to embrace me tightly.

"You're worried that when you go to college you won't have a place to come home to. That Gary and I won't be your family anymore just because you're 18." It wasn't a question. She stated it as if that must be the reason I was upset and who was I to argue? I couldn't tell her the real reason behind my emotion.

"Yeah." It didn't take much to bring the tears back and I let myself sob lightly while Brenda hugged me, "You guys have just been so great. I don't want to lose you but I know that I'm not your responsibility anymore."

"No sweetie, you will always be our responsibility. It doesn't matter to Gary and I that you're 18, or that you're graduating. This past year since you moved in with us… it's like you're the daughter we've been waiting for. We've had so many foster kids in and out of the house but you… You're special. And of course, it's your choice but Vanessa…"

I held back my laugh and smile that this woman who considered me her daughter didn't even know my real name. It wasn't funny really. I shouldn't be laughing in my mind. My emotions were all over the place tonight. Stupid birthday. Stupid Jake. I would blame him.

"Gary and I would like to officially adopt you."

The room went dark. Not just because it felt like my world could legitimately spin out of control from just that one simple sentence but because the room LITERALLY went dark. Downstairs, Gary began to call out to us.

"Brenda! Vanessa! It looks like the power went out. Just stay where you are and I'll go check the breaker box!"

"I'll go grab a flashlight." Brenda squeezed my knee and as my eyes adjusted to the dark I could see her smile as she stood and headed out into the hallway.

"Nessie!" Jacob hissed quietly and I turned quickly to see him perched on my window sill, "Get your stuff. We're out of here now."

"Jake?" Suddenly my mind was going in a million different directions. Erased were the worries of what I would tell Brenda when she wanted to know if they could adopt me and in the place of that one worry were ten others.

Had someone come for me? The moment Jacob and I had been preparing for since we ran away so many years ago? Was it the Volturi? Was it worse? Was there anything worse? Why had the lights gone out? Why were we leaving in such haste? What would be next on our journey and where was my MP3 player?

I watched him scramble around my room, quickly gathering clothes and the necessities into the emergency bag I always had packed under my bed. I grabbed the few things I wanted to keep from the life I had built with Brenda and Gary, tossing them into the bag as well. Jake zipped it closed and reached out for my hand, racing towards the window.

Our feet landed silently and soundly on the ground outside the window just as the lights of the house flickered back on. I could hear Brenda return to my room.

"Vanessa?" The panic etched into her voice clearly, "Vanessa where are you?"

Her voice faded into the background as we ran straight for the woods. There would be no looking back. There would be no hesitation. There would, once again, be only Jacob and Renesmee.


	3. Identity: Chapter Two

_**Author's Note: Hi! I think this is my first real author's note for this story... hmm :) Well, for any of you who have read my stories before, you know I usually put a quick (sometimes not so quick) note at the beginning of each chapter and I like doing that because it allows me to thank those of you who reviewed (temporaryinsanity91, AliceCullinInWonderland, my wonder beta MusicIsLove10, TeamBrathanBaby23, and tardychick). Author's notes also allow me to ask you guys to do things like... keep reviewing! :) And mostly it just allows me to give you some insight into the inner workings of my mind, if needed. So if you have ANY questions at ALL you can put them in your review or you can PM me. Your questions help to build the story because while all the details are in my head, if I'm leaving something vital out, I may not realize so yeah! Enjoy :)**_

**Chapter Two**

**Jacob POV**

The sun was shining brightly through a tiny sliver created in the gap of the curtains. I groaned at the small motel room I had rented the night before, and squinted against the sunlight, willing it to go away so I wouldn't have to face the day. I didn't want to move, in this room I had everything I needed.

Renesmee lay curled up innocently at my side, clutching my hand like a lifeline to her cheek, her even breathing a sign she was still peacefully sleeping. She murmured in her sleep sometimes, like Bella used to. I could watch her sleep forever.

"Momma…" Renesmee sighed and turned to her other side, still clutching my hand to her cheek, still peacefully asleep.

In her sleep was the only time she seemed like she may really still be a child. She was smarter than anyone I had ever known, except for maybe Edward, but I would have never admitted that to him. She looked 18, acted 18, but when she slept she was still a little girl, riding between my furry shoulder blades, looking behind us with tears in her eyes as she tried to keep her parents in her sight for as long as possible. She just wanted her mom.

I looked around, trying to locate a clock so I would know what time it was. The red numbers glared back at me angrily from the bedside table. 2:00 PM.

We had missed check out time which meant we would have to pay for another night, whether we were staying here or not. I had no intention to stay here; we had to keep moving. We had to find her a new home. I couldn't believe I had overreacted so ridiculously last night.

I had known from the beginning - once the plan to place her in capable foster homes to be raised had formed - eventually one of the families would fall in love with her and want to adopt her on a more permanent basis, but nothing had prepared me for it to actually happen. I had panicked. A quick flip of all the breakers was almost too easy. A quiet dark escape from the people who threatened to actually take Nessie from me.

Beside me she stirred, stretching and turning again, this time her eyes fluttered open to stare up into mine. She smiled and reached up, letting her hand rest lightly against my cheek. The images that fell across my vision were of happier times. The days when she had been so young, and so innocent. When we would spend hours on end hunting with Bella in the woods surrounding the Cullen family home in Forks, a simpler time.

"Is that what you were just dreaming about?" I asked her when she pulled her hand away, the vision removed.

She nodded and sighed.

"I miss them so much." She whispered, only barely audible.

"Me too." I admitted, pulling her protectively to my side, holding her there for a few moments of silence.

"So last night…" She pulled away and looked back into my eyes, "We ran for hours only to end up in this hotel? Do we have a plan? Do we have any idea what we were running from?"

I hadn't explained much last night and I winced as I realized I was going to have to actually explain my slight overreaction from the night before. She probably thought that someone wanted to kill her, or worse. I could see it in her eyes; She was scared but she hadn't asked any questions. She trusted me resolutely, so she ran when I told her to, and she slept in trashy hotels when I asked.

"We were running from…" I tried to find a way to phrase my words so that they didn't come out so much like I was being selfish, "To be honest Nessie, we were just running. I heard Brenda ask if they could adopt you and I panicked. I was too scared you would say yes."

For a second she just stared at me in shock and then, just when I thought she was going to kill me or at the very least hit me for being so stupid, she started to laugh. Giggled would have been a more accurate word. It started slow and quiet then grew as she lay on her back and let the sound resonate through the room.

"You whisked me away from there because you actually thought that I would allow them to adopt me?" She looked at me like it was the most ridiculous idea she had ever heard, "Jacob… my Jacob."

She didn't continue with words that were audible. She placed her hand on my cheek again and this time the vision was less memory and more pieces placed together. The faces of Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Bella, Edward… me. They were all there, smiling.

"That is my family." She whispered, letting the image linger a bit longer, "Even if you're the only one left, that's all I need. No one can ever replace my true family."

I had known before that my overreaction was stupid but it was still nice to hear her reassure me. Bella and Edward had trusted me to take care of her and after 8 years, I certainly couldn't lose her now.

We lay there, silently, for what seemed like hours. Realistically it was only a few minutes and I knew I was going to have to get up soon and formulate our next game plan. I hated that part- figuring out who we would be, where we would go, and who she would live with.

"I'm gonna go take a shower." I forced myself from the comfort of the bed with much effort, "Don't leave this room okay?"

"Of course not." She agreed easily, sitting herself up, "I'm just gonna see if we can get an Internet hook up in here, okay?"

I nodded and watched her for a second as she pulled out her laptop from the bag we had quickly packed. She knew the drill. We had done this many times before; she would be starting the research.

The hot steam of the shower washed over my aching muscles providing momentary relief. We had run over 50 miles the night before and although I spent most of my days as a wolf, the long distance running always caught up to me.

"So what's the verdict kid?" I towel dried my hair, heading back into the main part of the hotel room, fully dressed and ready to face the impending planning session.

Instead of finding Renesmee huddled over her computer researching, she was smiling at me while she jumped up and down on the bed. I raised an eyebrow at her warily.

"I. Have. A. Brilliant. Idea." She said confidently, jumping up and down after each word, "Let's. Go. Home."

"Excuse me?"

"Come jump on the bed. I never realized how fun this is." Renesmee beckoned for me to join her, "Come on."

"I'm pretty sure that bed is barely withstanding a hybrid like you jumping on it, let alone adding a werewolf." I laughed at her, watching her eyes sparkle as she continued to jump, "Now what was that you mentioned about home? Where exactly is home going to be this time?"

I sat down at the little table where she had set her laptop and focused on the screen, blinking a few times. The lush green forest, constant cloud cover and dreary beauty of the picture on the screen made my eyes widen. I would know that landscape anywhere. I didn't need the screen to show it to me. I could close my eyes and it was engrained into my brain.

"You're kidding right?" I glanced over just as Renesmee bounced for the last time, landing on her butt so she could slide off the bed to come stand next to me.

"Not kidding. I'm tired of running. Let's go home."

She crossed her arms over her chest and waited, clearly expecting a reaction.

"Forks, Nessie? You're brilliant plan is Forks?"

The website she had pulled up showed our small home town in it's glory. It showed the most beautiful, the most homey, the most appealing parts of the town. It made me yearn to go there, as I was sure it did for the tourists the website was set up for.

"We can't go to Forks. You know that." I shut the laptop resolutely and Renesmee's arms fell to her side as she glared at me, "Don't look at me like that. You KNOW we can't go back there."

"Why not?" She pouted and she was ,with each passing second, acting more and more her age, "Jake, I don't want to go live with another foster family! You're my family remember? We can get our own place and we can see Charlie, and Sue! I remember Charlie and Sue so clearly. I want to see them! Don't you wanna see your dad? Seth? Leah?"

"Seth and Leah are dead Renesmee." I snapped at her, my jaw clenching. As much as it hurt for anyone to bring up her parents, didn't she know it would hurt just as much for her to bring up my pack? "They died the same day your parents did. Do you remember that? They were there!"

Her lower lip trembled and she looked like she was going to cry. I knew that I should hold back but the sight of Forks on the computer screen had set me off. I was trembling too, in a much different way.

"Jake…" Renesmee reached out to place her hand on my arm gently, "I'm sorry."

I shook away her arm, too enraged, and stormed from the motel room without a second thought. I walked for almost a mile, making sure to stay where plenty of people were around in case I got the urge to phase, their presence would keep me in check. It wasn't until I walked past an old bookstore, catching a glance at the tribal books in the display window that it really hit me again.

All these years we had been running, and I had never truly dealt with losing so much in such a short time. Staring at a Quileute legends book, the face of a wolf staring back at me, I lost it. Tears streamed down my face and without regard for who was around me, I turned and raced back to the motel room where I had left Nessie.

"Nessie?" I threw the door open, almost expecting her to have left after I had been so horrible to her.

Her glistening eyes looked up from the computer screen to me expectantly. Her lower lip still trembled.

"Belgrade, Montana." She said softly, "It's small, in the Rocky Mountains. I'm pretty sure I can find a family and since it's in the mountains I'm sure there's plenty of places you can hide out. The high school looks good so…"

"Nessie." I went to her side and placed my hand against her cheek, cradling her entire head just there in my head, "I'm so sorry."

"It's my fault." She nuzzled my hand with her nose, reminding me again of what life had been like in the pack, tears threatening to take over again, "I won't bring up Forks again okay? I just… It was stupid and I'm sorry. Belgrade, Montana okay?"

It was times like these when I wished I had the power she had to just touch her face and show her how sorry I was. How sorry I would always be for not being able to take her back to Forks. Bella had wanted that and after 8 years, it was probably safe, but I just couldn't handle it. Renesmee had nothing to be sorry for.

"Go take a shower while I look at this okay?" I lifted her from the chair gently and pulled her into my arms, embracing her firmly, "And don't be sorry. It's not your fault."

She nodded against my chest, clinging to me and I could feel a few silent tears soaking their way through my shirt.

I watched her grab some clothes from her bag and head for the bathroom, her head still hanging low. The moving was always the hard part but for some reason, this time just seemed different.

Belgrade, Montana seemed promising. Small town in the Gallatin Valley. Fishing, hiking, skiing, camping… There was a bigger city, Bozeman, not too far away where I would be able to live. Close enough that running back and forth every day wasn't an issue. I would blend in Bozeman as just another citizen. No one would question why I was there. Anonymity. For me, that was the key.

Nessie had found a good one. It would take us a few days travel to arrive there from where we were now in Northern Nevada but that wasn't too bad. We could have flown if we wanted to, to make it shorter, but I never liked taking that risk. Records of us traveling together were never a good thing, just in case.

I could still remember the day that we had left Forks. The snow had stuck for the first time that season, as Alice had foreseen, and that was the day the Volturi had arrived. After some negotiation's, it had become clear to Bella that it wasn't going to end peacefully, as we had all so desperately hoped for. So she and Edward had said their goodbyes, slipped Renesmee onto my shoulders and when the Volturi and their guard were sufficiently distracted, I had run as fast as I could. Away. As far away as I could get.

We had run East and then North, headed to Canada. In the beginning I had no idea if we would even make it. Judging by the sounds of my pack's thoughts as we ran, I didn't think we would get far. Without being there, I could hear the brutality and I couldn't turn it off. The torture of hearing each member of my pack die, one by one, almost made it too much to bear. We were in the outskirts of Mt. Vernon when my thoughts turned abruptly to silence. I thought for sure then that meant someone would be coming after us.

It wasn't until we had almost reached the Canadian border that I remembered the backpack. Deep in the forest, I had slipped Renesmee from my shoulders, phased to my human form and together, she and I discovered what Bella had packed for us.

Renesmee had studied the identification I handed her carefully. I could see she was reading it, comprehending what must be done without me even having to explain. She had placed her tiny hand on my cheek and with one quick vision, that of her picture on the passport with the name Vanessa Wolfe, I knew Bella's plan was going to work. I was going to keep Nessie safe forever.

With the money Bella had packed for us, our new identification, and a note that said simply Rio De Janeiro, Vanessa and Jacob Wolfe had crossed safely into Canada and immediately boarded a plane on it's way to South America.

Renesmee brought me back from my memories as she stood over me, playfully shaking some of the water from her ringlets in my direction. She smiled at me tentatively when I laughed, wiping the water from my face.

"Belgrade." I confirmed our next destination and she nodded, not a single trace of doubt or disappointment in her eyes, "Start picking out your new identity."

She fell onto the bed, letting the towel she had been using to dry her hair fall to the floor. She pulled the emergency bag towards her and sighed. The small lock box emerged in her hands and she flipped it open, the stack of passports, ID cards, Driver's Licenses and various forms of ID were almost overflowing.

She flipped through them idly, making three separate piles. On closer inspection I found that one pile was for me, one was clearly for the ID that no longer worked for her more grown exterior, and the other was her possibilities.

She held up "Renee Clark" and placed it next to her face, smiling at me as she was in the passport photo. She waited for my okay.

"No. We used Renee Clark too recently. That one was right before Gary and Brenda right?"

Renesmee frowned and nodded, discarding Renee Clark. She held up the next and smiled again, mimicking the photo.

"Vanessa Brown… since you were just a Vanessa who is probably currently listed as a missing persons for the state of California, I would say let's shy away from Vanessa." She frowned again and tossed it, along with several others she fished out of the possibility pile, to the side, "Sorry Nessie. I know Vanessa's your favorite."

I knew that if she couldn't use her real name she always preferred Vanessa because it was what Bella had first chosen for her alternate identity.

There were three more choices. Carlie Doyle. Esme Porter and my personal favorite, Isabella-Rose Jasper.

"You know which one I'm gonna pick." I told her and she rolled her eyes.

She hated being Isabella, because when people automatically nicknamed her Bella, she cried. It was hard to explain tears over a nickname.

"It's the most logical one. Passport and driver's permit say 15 so you'll be able to get your license again soon plus it's the least used. It's safer."

She held her hand to my face and I saw the image of her from the last time she had been Isabella, crying when a kid at school had asked if they could call her Bella.

"You're stronger now." I assured her, "Come on. You know I'm right."

She sighed and nodded, packing away the rest of her identification, including the driver's license she pulled from her wallet, replacing it with the new state of North Carolina driver's permit. She sifted through my pile of possibilities when hers had been chosen and smiled when she held up the one she had picked.

"The state of North Carolina presents Jacob Lonewolf." I laughed as I read it aloud, "I can't believe anyone buys this bull shit."

Her eyes went wide and once again she placed her hand to my face this time showing me a sign that we had once seen in Virginia Beach, VA which showed a bunch of random characters meant to be cuss words crossed out to illustrate "no cussing."

"Yeah, yeah." I rolled my eyes at her, "Hey, what's with the silent treatment? I thought we moved past this non verbal communication stage."

She shrugged and moved off the bed, effectively ending our conversation. I figured this had to do with me blowing up before but I didn't push it. There were still a lot of things to figure out for our move.

After the sun had set, and our plans had been finalized, Renesmee and I lay silently on the bed, both of us staring at the ceiling. Her hand found mine and our fingers naturally intertwined. I chuckled a little, wondering what Edward would have said if he had seen us then. I didn't really need to wonder. I knew what he would have said.

"Hands off." To which I would have retorted that he was going to have to give in eventually and he would answer, "Not for at least another 150 years."

I could sense the change in dynamic occurring between Renesmee and I. It had been happening slowly, for the past year or so. Just subtle changes. She blushed when I complimented her. She stuttered over her words sometimes. She hesitated to show me her some of her thoughts. There was a shift happening, but it wasn't quite there. She was still so young in so many ways.

"Jake?" Her eyes were fluttering closed when she turned towards me slowly, "Will you tell me a story?"

I smiled, remembering those first few weeks after I left when we would lay in the woods at night, staring up at the stars, and she would ask for a bedtime story.

"What would you like to hear?" Glad for her to break the vow of silence she had taken for the afternoon.

"Will you tell me about my parents?"

This was one she requested often.

"Of course." I pulled her close to my chest, wrapping her in my arms protectively, "Once upon a time, in the small town of Forks, a very clumsy 17 year old girl named Isabella Swan came to live with her dad, Charlie…"

I continued through the whole story to the end, despite my absolute certainty that Nessie hadn't heard more than a few sentences before she had drifted to sleep.

"And so, together, though their immortality had failed, they would continue to exist as Edward and Bella. Two halves of a whole."


	4. Identity: Chapter Three

**_Author's Note: Hi guys! So here's chapter three, it's a little longer than the last few chapters but I'm pleased with it. Thanks to my wonderful beta for reading, editing, reviewing and just everything she does! She's amazing so yeah, everyone should be as lucky as me to have such a wonderful beta. I also want to thank my other reviewers temporaryinsanity91 and onetreefan because reviews are what keep me going and I LOVE to hear what you guys think! Keep em coming guys! :) We're skipping some time with this one but I think you'll like it. Enjoy :)_**

**Chapter Three**

**Renesmee POV**

Fully waking up from a restless night of sleep was, for lack of a better word, crappy. At least when sleep fully takes you over, you wake feeling rested. When you don't sleep well and then STILL have to wake up in the morning, it's truly unfair.

"Isabella! You're gonna be late for school!"

Without lifting my head from the pillow I reached over to hit the snooze button on my alarm clock, hitting it repeatedly before I realized the blabbering was coming from downstairs. Parents, the foster kind at least, were so lovingly annoying.

"Belle." My foster mom Marnie poked her head into the room, "Get up, you! It's the first day of school!"

"5 more minutes." I groaned, putting the pillow over my head so that the sunlight would go away.

"No. Now." Marnie grabbed the blankets and pulled them off of me, "It's your senior year Belle. Put in some effort okay?"

I sighed and threw the pillow to the other side of the room, lightly, so it wouldn't go flying through the window instead of landing softly on the window seat. I was frowning, staring up at her as she held my blanket in her arms while she smiled down at me, shaking her head.

"Okay. I'm up." I groaned as I sat up, my eyes still closed.

Tossing the covers back to the end of the bed, Marnie just continued to laugh as she headed out of my room.

"Don't take too long. You need to eat breakfast before you go." She called back to me from the hallway.

I frowned, sniffing and smelling the eggs and bacon she would have waiting for me downstairs. Blech. Yes, her intentions were in the right place but the result was truly disgusting.

Once I was awake I resigned myself to really get ready for school. It's not hard to get ready quickly when you can race around the room at twice the normal speed of a human, although sometimes I wished I was a full vampire. Twice the normal speed of a human seemed trivial when I remembered how fast my father could run.

I couldn't start down that train of thought right now though. I was running late and Marnie was right. It was the first day of my senior year of high school, and this time around, Jacob had already promised I would be allowed to finish. There would be no pulling me out mid-year to whisk me off to a new school in a new town just to start all over again.

"I gotta run Marnie." I grabbed my light jean jacket from the rack by the front door and attempted to leave before she caught me to force breakfast on me.

"Not so fast young lady." For a full human she was really fast, "I knew you were running late so I packed it to go."

She handed me a small Tupperware container with the eggs and bacon inside.

"Have a good day okay?" She smiled at me, exactly the way I would have imagined my mother smiling at me on the first day of my senior year of high school, "Love you."

"Love you too." I smiled and quickly hugged her, inhaling her floral scent, "Alright, really late. Gotta go."

I was pulling out of the driveway only moments later, the tires on my BMW squealing quietly as I raced away from the house. I hoped Marnie hadn't heard the squeal, she was always worrying about me.

The sun was shining brightly and it brought a feeling of tranquility over me. For the first time in my whole life, I felt at peace. We had been in Belgrade for almost three years, the longest I had lived in one place, ever.

When we had first arrived, Jacob and I had almost turned around and left. The town was smaller than we had expected. The terrain was much flatter than any we had attempted in the past, creating almost no cover for a gigantic wolf to hide around town while he spied on me. Even though we had both entered town as humans, everyone stared at us as if they could tell we were different and we were just about to turn and leave when we saw Marnie.

She was utterly hopeless. Her hair had been piled into a high messy bun, clearly unkempt trying to masquerade as a real hairstyle. Her jeans had holes in the knees with paint splatters all over and were frayed at the bottom. The t-shirt she was wearing was probably three times too big for her and she was clumsier than anyone I had ever met.

Marnie exited the grocery store just 50 feet from where Jacob and I were standing when she tripped on the even pavement and all the bags she was carrying went tumbling from her arms. It only took a few moments for me to run across the abandoned main road to be at her side, helping her gather all the groceries from the blacktop parking lot.

"Thank you so much. I am such a klutz. That's the third time I've tripped today and it's only 10:00 AM." She had sighed and stood up, accepting the bag of groceries I had gathered for her as I handed it back to her. When she saw me her face had immediately softened, as if she recognized me, but not as someone she knew, just as someone she would want to know. "Hi, I'm Marnie. You don't look familiar. Are you new to town?"

"Um, yeah." I had smiled back at her, tucking my hands into my pockets and looking around for Jacob to fill in his part of the story, but when I looked around he was nowhere to be found.

At first I had been frantic. Where did Jacob go? What was I supposed to tell this lady without him playing his part? My story was incomplete and I had no idea how to deal with that so, I panicked.

"He was right there!" I growled, pointing at the last place I had seen him, forgetting there was a woman watching me, "What the hell! Jacob! Jacob!"

"Honey, is everything okay?" Marnie had reached out to touch my arm and I had whipped around on her, hissing, making her jump back scared.

My breathing was erratic and it took me a second to calm down. While I breathed, she had just stared at me, waiting.

"He was right there." I said calmly after a few seconds, "My… older brother. We…"

A story formulated quickly in my head and immediately I knew what Jacob had done. He had seen the opportunity and seized it, knowing I would be able to handle this.

"My older brother Jacob. We came here together, looking for our parents. They left us a few days ago in Bozeman and… And he was right there next to me and then I ran over here to help you and now he's gone too. I don't know what's happening. Why are they leaving me?"

My tears had come easily enough. All I had to do was think about my parents really being gone and they were flowing rapidly while Marnie gathered me into her arms.

"Shh." She held me while I cried and while she wasn't looking I saw Jacob walking the opposite way down the street. I could sense his smile, "It's gonna be okay sweetie. What's your name?"

"Isabella." I sniffled, wiping my tears away and taking a step back, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak out. I'm sure he's around here somewhere. I'll just…'

"No wait." Marnie grabbed my arm before I could turn and walk away, not that I was really planning to go anywhere, "Let me help you. What's your brother look like?"

"Um, he's tall. Like 6'5 I think and he's got longish hair." I tried to be vague enough that if anyone remembered seeing Jacob and I walk in together the description would match closely enough to corroborate my lies but not enough that seeing Jacob would spark any interest, "Big, like a football player."

"Do you have a picture with you?" She stared at the bag I was carrying.

_Yes._ I said in my head. "No." I said out loud, "I have my ID and my passport, my birth certificate. Some clothes, a toothbrush I think. I have some money too but, no pictures."

"Okay, well. Let's um…" I could tell Marnie was at a loss as she reached up to scratch her head, clearly puzzled and on the verge of being hopelessly frazzled. I didn't blame her. A teenager just completely breaks down in front of you claiming to have misplaced her entire family? I would have been hysterical in her shoes. "Let's go to the police station okay? We'll report your family missing."

"No." I let my lower lip quiver for effect, "No, we can't go to the police. I don't want to go to the police. We tried that in Bozeman and they all laughed at us. I don't think they believed us and I don't want to go through all that again."

Marnie's mouth fell open and for just a second I wasn't sure if she was still buying this ludicrous tale I was spinning for her.

"How old are you Isabella?" She asked quietly, "You look young."

That was a first. No one ever told me I looked "young" before. I resisted the urge to tell her I was 8.

"15."

Marnie had taken a deep breath, letting it go slowly as if she were finally grasping the situation. She chewed the inside of her lip nervously, still running her fingers through her hair, messing it up even more severely than it had already been.

"You seem like a really nice girl." She was lying, but I didn't hold that against her because her only impression of me so far had been hysterics and hissing, "How about you come home with me and we can work out a game plan together okay? We will… we'll figure out how to find your family."

"No. You don't even know me. I can't let you do that." It was always smart to resist the first outreach.

"I insist." She motioned towards her SUV, "Come on."

"Are you sure?" I questioned her as I headed slowly for the passenger seat, "This is more than I can possibly repay you for."

"It's the least I can do Bella. Oh, I'm sorry. Can I call you Bella?" She had already resorted to a nickname. Picking a nickname was a good sign for my future. Unfortunately, she had just managed to pick the one nickname I didn't want and my tear ducts overreacted.

"That's my mom's name." I cried and then sniffled, quickly fixing my error, "I mean, that's my mom's name for me. She calls me Bella."

"I'm sorry." Marnie looked mortified, "I won't…"

"I've always preferred Belle." I smiled weakly at her, "No 'a' at the end. Just Belle."

She smiled back at me and nodded.

"Okay Belle. Let's go home and we'll figure this out alright?"

I was pulled from my memories when the traffic thickened near my school. Belgrade High School. Student Body population: 802. And it seemed like all 802 students were late.

I was tempted to drive over the curb to pass the line of cars so I could get to my parking space on time. I had just angled my front end in that direction when my cell phone rang.

"Traffic sucks huh?"

My grin spread from ear to ear.

"You're watching me?" I responded, looking around for either a burly wolf or an oversized Quileute Indian.

"Of course. I'm always watching you." Jacob responded, "Beyond the parking lot, to the right, just left of the stop sign at the corner."

I looked where he directed me and I saw him waving.

"Get out of here before someone sees you." I told him, waving back.

"I just wanted to see you off to your first day of your 2nd senior year. I haven't missed a first day of school yet and I wasn't going to miss today."

If it was possible, my smile widened even further.

"Thank you Jake. It means a lot to me."

"Anytime Nessie. Have a good day. I'll see you for an after school snack right?"

"Yes." I said resolutely, "She sent me to school with eggs and bacon. I'm positively starving and it's only 8:00am."

Jacob laughed.

"Behave yourself. I'll see you later."

"Yep. Goodbye my Jacob."

"Goodbye my Nessie."

I clicked the cell phone shut and immediately my frustration with the traffic returned.

"Come on!" I yelled at the line of cars.

Luckily for me, the first day of school had a bit of leniency, since our first day started with an all school assembly. The rest of the student body was just filing into the auditorium when I made my way onto campus and let out a sigh of relief.

"Izzy!" My best friend in school jumped at me, wrapping her arms around my waist and squealing, "Can you believe we are seniors? This is so exciting!"

Erin was more than a little excitable. Give her just a tiny bit of caffeine or any type of male eye candy, and she was jumping off the walls almost literally.

"Very exciting." I replied with a sarcastic grin, "OMG!"

She rolled her eyes at me and tucked her arm through mine, leading me to the empty seats her boyfriend Russell had saved for us. She giggled and sat next to him, pulling me into the seat next to her, just in time for the principal to step on stage, officially signaling the beginning of the assembly.

"Good morning students and welcome to a brand new year at Belgrade High School, home of the mighty Panthers!" Principal McCary smiled out over all 802 of us squeezed into the room.

"Go Panthers!" The cheerleaders yelled from their seats in the front row. The jocks hooted and hollered. The geeks sighed.

"It is going to be an exciting year everyone. I can feel it in the air. This year will bring greatness to our halls! Each and every single one of you has the chance to be part of the greatness, and part of the history of Belgrade High School."

I tuned out the assembly with ease, completely aware that I would need none of this information later. It was a pep talk by the principal and nothing more. Assembly's were just the principal's way to welcome the Freshman, pump up the seniors and basically waste away the first hour of school, which was fine with me.

My thoughts went back to Marnie as I remembered the way she had looked at me this morning. Her eyes spoke to me, telling me that I was truly the light of her life. She was proud of me and proud to be a part of my life. It was exactly the same way she had looked at me the first day we had met, when she had whisked me into her home and unwittingly fallen directly into my trap.

"Okay so, let me just make sure I have this right." Marnie sat across from me in the living room of her restored historical home, "You, your parents, and your brother Jacob were in Bozeman, staying at a hotel two days ago. When you and Jacob woke up your parents were gone. No note? Nothing."

I nodded, staring down at the egg salad sandwich she had made me.

"You look like you need some food kid. Eat it." She had commanded in a motherly fashion then continued, "So you and Jacob searched Bozeman but found no trace of your parents. They had taken their luggage and left only your identification and some money with you and when you reported this to the Bozeman police they laughed at you?"

"Basically." I sighed, scrunching my nose as I forced myself to take a bite of the utterly unappetizing sandwich, "Dey shaid it shounded made up."

She giggled at the sound of my words through my full mouth.

"It's crazy but not made up." Marnie deduced, making me feel horrible for lying to her, even though I knew it was necessary, "I just can't imagine any parent leaving their children alone in a strange city like that. You said you're from North Carolina right?"

I nodded, forcing another bite of the sandwich into my mouth.

"Chawlotte." I spoke again through the food I was forcing myself to chew.

"And now, you end up in Belgrade looking for your parents when you see me being my clumsy self, stumbling in a parking lot and you come to my aid only for your brother to disappear as well. Leaving you, a 15 year old little girl, all by yourself."

_Well, it's a little more complicated then that, _I thought to myself but I nodded to her.

"You poor thing." Marnie groaned, "I just, I don't know what to do with you. You've lost everything in just a few days and yet here you sit, sort of eating egg salad in my living room, is the food that bad?"

I realized I must have been making horrible faces while I chewed and quickly corrected myself, shaking my head vehemently.

"It's good." I lied, "I just.. I've never really liked mayonnaise."

"Oh honey, you should have said something." She grabbed the plate from me and headed back into the kitchen giving me time to sigh with relief that the food was gone, "I'll make you peanut butter and jelly instead. Is that okay?"

_No but a bottle of blood would be great, thanks._ I groaned at a decibel she would have never been able to hear.

"Do you have strawberry jelly?" I had called back to her.

"It's the only kind I buy." She peeked out at me and grinned, "One second."

I needed to be careful to pretend to really like this sandwich. I had a feeling if I kept rejecting her food the companionship wouldn't last long.

When she had returned with the new sandwich I ate it quickly, being careful to look like I was enjoying every second. I choked it down in record time and she seemed satisfied, going back to her original line of questioning.

"Alright Belle, let's figure this out okay? I'm a sucker for a sad story and you, all by yourself in a world not meant to coddle an impressionable teenager, you have a very sad story. I know you don't want to go to the police but…"

"No, please no." I put on a good show, "I can't do that again."

"Okay, okay." She took a deep breath and let it go slowly, something she did often, I noticed. It must be a calming technique she used, "I'll tell you what."

I remembered thinking in that moment that she was either going to crush my plans or willingly align with them right then and there. It was the moment of truth.

"You have your birth certificate, your passport and your ID. That's more than enough identification to make a lie seem like the truth."

_Uh-oh. She had seen through me._

"So we are going to lie and lie good. As far as anyone knows you are my husband's love child from North Carolina and you came searching for him but only found me because he died 8 years ago and so I have decided to let you stay and raise you because, your mom is a drug addict?"

_Very impressive Marnie. Very elaborate, crazy story in a very short amount of time._

"We could try something simpler. Maybe we could just tell everyone I'm your niece from North Carolina whose parents died in a car crash?"

"Small town. Everyone knows everyone and everyone knows everyone's business. These people know my siblings. If one of them suddenly died, there would be a parade in their memory." Marnie sighed, "But, you're right. It should be simpler."

I had a lot of cover stories in my arsenal but I didn't want to make her suspicious if they came out too easily, so I let her mull it over for about 15 minutes before trying again.

"Is your husband really dead?" I asked, hoping the answer was no. With the amount of love this lady clearly had to give, she didn't deserve to have lost someone she loved.

She nodded sadly, much to my dismay. I wanted to hug her to comfort her, like she had in the grocery store parking lot for me, but her revelation only cemented my resolution to come up with the perfect story so that I could stay with her. Now we had something in common.

"Maybe I'm his god-daughter. My parents died, so rightfully he would have been my next of kin but since he's…" I hesitated to say 'dead' again as she flinched, "Since he's not around, you've decided that you'll still take care of me."

She smiled widely at me for that one. With a quick nod I knew we had come up with the story that would stick.

"Izzy." Erin bumped my arm to bring me back from my reverie, "Principal McCary is calling you. Student Body President has to address the masses remember? Get up there."

"Oh, right." I jumped up and headed for the stage, the entire school clapping for me as I made my way, "Hi everyone!"

"We love you Izzy!" A group of sophomore's screamed from the right side of the auditorium.

"I love you too." My laugh echoed through the room, "I didn't really prepare a speech for you guys today but um, for those of you who don't know me; new students? Freshman? I am Isabella Jasper, most people just call me Izzy and I'm your student body president. I just want to welcome you to a brand new year at Belgrade High School. I remember, almost three years ago, I took my first steps onto this campus as a freshman transfer from North Carolina. I was completely terrified. What if no one liked me? What if I didn't fit in? What if I failed my classes? There was so much unknown and I remember sitting down in Principal McCary's office and he looked straight into my eyes and said, "If you're gonna puke, make sure you do it in the trash can."

The entire auditorium erupted into laughter and cheered as I glanced over to the principal.

"So basically, a quick layout, there are trash cans in almost every room and lined up about every twenty feet outside." Everyone continued to laugh, "No seriously though, this is going to be an amazing year. I can feel it! And you're all a part of it so seize every moment to be the best you can be. Thank you."

I handed the microphone back to Principal McCary and headed back to my seat, the cheers still ringing in my ears.

"Thank you Izzy. Now students, you are going to quietly, and orderly, find the table in the back of the room where your name belongs in the alphabet so that you can pick up your class schedule and locker assignments then you will make sure to be in your 2nd period class at exactly 9:28 okay?"

The exodus from chairs in the room was neither quiet nor orderly as all the students made a beeline for the tables in the back of the auditorium. Everyone was desperate to get their schedule and locker assignments first because if they got that part out of the way, they would have more free time before they had to be in their next class.

"Great speech Iz." Russell complimented me, "You're so good at it. Where do you get the confidence?"

"It's not confidence Russ." I shrugged off the compliment, "It's just knowing how to command a room. If you respect yourself enough to address them all as equals, they will respect you enough to listen."

"It helps that she's beautiful, single, and the most popular girl at school." Erin added with a laugh, "I'll see you two later. My table is over there."

We all looked to the long line of S - V students and she pouted.

"I hate my last name." She mumbled and then took off.

"Come on Russ." I directed Russell to follow me towards our table where the line was shorter, but still long.

Russell's last name was Jason so whenever it was a matter of alphabetization, we were always stuck together.

"Isabella!" One of the student volunteers helping to hand out class schedules noticed Russell and I take our place in line and she waved us forward, ahead of the rest of the line, "Jasper and Jason right?"

She already had our class schedules and locker assignments out.

"No need to wait. President always goes first." She smiled widely at me and I smiled back.

"Thank you Cassie." I gladly accepted my schedule and then Russell and I headed out of the auditorium so we could go sit at our usual table in the quad.

"How's your schedule look?" Russell asked me when we sat down, dropping our backpacks to the floor beside us.

"I have AP Calculus 1st period, AP Psychology 2nd period, French III 3rd period, Honors Study Hall 4th period, AP Biology 5th period, TA for Ms. Paulson 6th period and AP Literature & Composition 7th period. Next semester the only change is French IV instead of French III. You?"

"No rest for the weary huh?" Russell was staring at me with enlarged eyes, "All AP classes?"

"If I want to go to Dartmouth in the fall, I have to make sure I take the right classes. " I didn't bother to add that I had taken almost all of those classes in my junior year at my last high school so they should be a piece of cake, "Besides, what's the point in attending school if you aren't gonna challenge yourself?"

"You're a nerd Izzy." Russell laughed, "The point to coming to school is to make it to the end, graduate and run away and I am not telling you my class schedule. You will laugh."

"I will not." I snatched it out of his hands before he could even blink. I read it aloud, "Creative Writing, Physics, Spanish II, Advanced Photography, Yearbook and Honors Study Hall. That's not bad Russ. Why did you think I would laugh?"

"Because Ms. Smarty Pants, you are in ALL AP courses while the rest of us just try to squeeze by." Erin joined us at the table rolling her eyes and handing me her schedule before I had a chance to take it by force, "And while you run off to Dartmouth, the rest of us will be going to community college, still stuck in Belgrade."

Her class list almost exactly matched Russell's and I smiled while I handed it back to her.

"I have a dream. Dartmouth is where my parents were supposed to go and then I happened. They never got their dream so I want to live it for them."

Erin and Russell both gazed at me with sympathy in their eyes. I didn't really want their sympathy because there was no way they could possibly understand, but it was the way most people looked at me when I spoke of my parents, the real ones or the made up ones.

"Don't look at me like that." I insisted, standing and grabbing my backpack so that I could escape their sympathetic eyes, "I don't need the sympathy I just need to get in to Dartmouth."

"With a class schedule like that one it'll be hard not to." Russell made a joke but the laughter didn't make it to his eyes.

I sighed and quickly hugged them both.

"I'll see you guys at lunch. I'm just gonna go for a walk while we still have some time before 2nd period."

I headed for the football field, the one place most students didn't dare to go unless there was a game being held. It was too far from the main campus and they were all scared to miss the bell to go to class. Me being me, I could still hear the bell crystal clear from my perch on the top row of bleachers.

"Hey you." Jacob sat next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, clearly sensing my mind was elsewhere.

I had heard him approaching but didn't even turn to acknowledge him. When his arm was securely around me, I leaned my head against his shoulder and sighed. He let me stay silent for a few minutes, laying my hand on his knee before he started tracing the lines of my palm with his finger.

"What's on your mind?" He asked finally.

I sighed and lifted my hand to his cheek. I showed him my last memory of my parents, their backs were to us, standing strong as they faced the Volturi head on. They were in the distance and growing farther away with every one of Jacob's enormous wolf bounds.

When my fingers left his cheek he sighed and hugged me tighter against him.

"Almost eleven years. It still seems like yesterday to me. I can still smell all those bloodsuc… vampires."

He corrected his grammar when I looked up at him despairingly.

"I just remember the tension in the air and knowing that, no matter what happened, I had to get you to safety if they weren't going to listen to reason." His voice was barely above a whisper as he ran his fingers through my auburn curls, "To protect you no matter the cost."

I didn't let the tears fall but I sniffled a little bit.

"I haven't told you yet, but…" I sat up and smiled weakly at Jacob, "I want to go to Dartmouth next fall. For college. No more repeating high school or running or moving just to keep hidden. It's been eleven years and I think that if the Volturi were going to come after me they would have done it already so I want to follow in my parents footsteps and apply to Dartmouth and then if I get accepted, I'd like to attend."

Once the words were blurted out, I waited for Jacob's reaction.

Jacob contemplated what I said for a minute. He wiped away the one tear that escaped, gently moving his index finger underneath my eye. In that moment, I desperately wished that I had my father's ability to read minds instead of the ability to share my own thoughts with others. It would have been much more helpful to be able to read Jacob's mind in that moment than to wait for him to speak.

"Jake?"

"Am I invited?" He asked hesitantly, "To go with you to Dartmouth?"

My eyes went wide and my mouth fell open. How could he have even just asked me that question with a serious face?

"Jacob, of course you're invited! You're my family! I'm not going anywhere without you ever!" I twisted the Quileute bracelet he had finally remembered he was supposed to give me on my eighth birthday. It had only been a year late, "You're my Jacob."

"You're my Nessie." He sighed, letting his forehead come to a rest against mine, his hand resting again my cheek, "As long as I'm invited then you can apply to whatever college you want."

I had a list of other things I wanted to do. Keep in touch with Marnie, Erin & Russell. Visit Belgrade during holiday's, at least while I could continue to pull off the age they would all believe me to be. And on my real 16th birthday, which would be my first birthday after graduating college if all went well, I wanted to go back to Forks.

I showed Jacob my list of demands because I was too scared to speak them. He remained quiet for another couple of minutes.

"That seems reasonable." He finally said with a sigh, "16 years is plenty of time for us to have stayed away from home. There's no reason not to go back."

I smiled, my feelings a mixture of happiness, melancholy, yearning and satisfaction. It would take another 5 years but I would get to go home to Forks and although I wouldn't push my luck now, I made a mental note to ask Jacob later if we would be able to see Charlie. Just the hope of it lit up my life.

On the main campus the warning bell for second period rang, signaling the end of our alone time. Jacob stood and then helped me to my feet as well. We walked slowly down the bleachers together and at the bottom he squeezed my hand reassuringly.

"I'm so proud of you." He said quietly, staring at the floor, "For being so strong and smart and patient. Most of all strong though. You're the most amazing 11 year old girl I know."

I laughed quietly.

"Technically I'm still 10." I corrected him, punching him playfully in his arm.

"You know what I meant."

I nodded, no other words needed. One quick press of my fingers to his cheek to tell him goodbye and then I headed for the campus. I had to half run to make sure I wasn't late, sliding into my seat at the exact moment the final bell rang.

"Good morning class." Our teacher greeted us warmly, "Welcome to AP Psychology."

My mind tuned out his words and instead focused on my bracelet. It was exactly like the one Jake had given me my first Christmas, only larger to fit my enlarged wrist. A Quileute promise ring of sorts but a promise for what? A promise to watch over me forever? A promise to always be there for me? Or was it a promise for more? I knew what Jacob would say if I asked.

"Grow up a little more. Then we'll talk." The idea of him telling me to grow up made me laugh. He who still played with his food and read comic books when he thought I wasn't looking. He who still made funny faces at me when I was down, just to cheer me up. But I would wait to ask what promise he had made me on that first Christmas, because I didn't remember a verbal promise being made. I would wait until we were back in Forks. Surely, my 16 year old self would be old enough to talk about it.

"Isabella?" The teacher tapped on my shoulder and motioned for me to sign my name to the paper in front of me on a clipboard.

"Sorry." I smiled bashfully and then straightened up in my chair as he moved around the rest of the room with the clipboard.

_Focus Renesmee. _I thought to myself. _Dartmouth. The better you do in these classes, the sooner you can go to Dartmouth. _And that was all the motivation I really needed.


	5. Identity: Chapter Four

**_Author's Note: Hello again my amazing readers! OMG, I am overwhelmed by the support this story is starting to gain and I am so thankful for all of you reading and reviewing and just being awesome. I promised my beta I'd stop complimenting her so much so I'll just say that I have this cool beta, she kinda helps me out sometime, no big deal. HAHAHAHA Thank you to onetreefan, angelies5, milliexchan, MagicGirlTheAwesome, addisonj, and tardychick for leaving me reviews! You're all seriously amazing and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter! :)_**

**Chapter Four**

**Jacob POV**

Snow covered the field and fell around us. Despite the cold, Renesmee and I were laying in the middle of an open field just outside of Belgrade. I wasn't cold. My temperature ran high and Nessie's just a few degrees below mine, so I doubted she was cold either. To anyone watching us though, we would look insane.

We had gotten comfortable in Belgrade, probably too comfortable I would realize if I forced myself to think about it. I didn't hide as much from being seen in human form. I phased only enough to keep the aging process from beginning again. I didn't watch Renesmee as much as I should. She had friends and Marnie and she was happy. We had already been here three years, and we had been on the run for 11. Nothing had ever happened to warrant continued paranoia, so, we had gotten comfortable; comfortable enough to lie out in the open, in the snow, lazily, without worrying about the prying eyes of others.

"I think I'm going to become a doctor." Renesmee announced, "That way I can have access to blood without needing to kill animals. I prefer human blood anyway and no one has to die for me to drink it."

"You're gross." I cringed at the way she spoke of blood, "We hunt everyday together and sometimes I forget you're part bloodsucker. Then you have to remind me."

She giggled happily, patting her stomach to indicate she was nice and full. I laughed back at her.

"So I was thinking…" She started her next sentence.

"That's always dangerous." I teased her.

"Shut up!" She reached over and smacked me, hard enough for me to feel it but not hard enough to hurt, "I'm being serious. I was thinking that maybe- and don't freak out until you've heard the whole plan,-but maybe you could meet Marnie so that I don't have to keep your existence a secret anymore."

Silence fell over us. She was waiting for me to react, either by screaming at her how stupid that would be or agreeing to her plan. Definitely, too comfortable.

"And we would pull that off how exactly?" I didn't want to just tell her no. She had wanted me to hear the whole plan so I would.

"Well," Renesmee moved to lay next to me, laying on her stomach as she stared at me, her big brown eyes wide with excitement, "I can explain to her that I lied to her when I came into town, which I think she secretly knows anyway, but I'll explain without giving her details. I can tell her, well, it's easier if I just show you. Do you mind?"

I guided her hand to my cheek and she smiled, letting the images flow from her fingertips as they took over my senses. A lifetime of these picture shows and I would probably still never get over the way the movies came to life in my head.

The images involved her, the way she envisioned the conversation with Marnie. She would tell her foster mother that she had lied to her the first day they met and that while I, Jacob, actually did exist, I was not her brother and I had not left her. She would tell Marnie that I was her protector, and had been since she was a baby. She would tell her that I was the most important person in her life and that Marnie was the second most important person in her life and she felt that it was time for the two most important people in her life to meet, officially. In her head, Marnie took all this in stride and Nessie envisioned the three of us sitting down to a meal together, happily, as if we were all a family.

Reluctantly, she removed her hand from my face and waited for me to say something.

"I think that," I didn't want to crush her hopes, but it seemed incredibly naïve to think Marnie would react peacefully to being lied to for three years, "I like being the most important person in your life."

Renesmee sighed and groaned at the same time. Her head fell to the ground, hard as a rock and I cringed, even though I knew it didn't hurt her.

"Nessie, it's not that I don't WANT to try it but I just think she's not going to buy that I've been taking care of you since you were a baby when I look barely a few years older than you do and…"

"Well, we can just tell her not to worry about that." Renesmee shrugged, interrupting the rest of my concerns. "I think she'll understand without asking for an explanation Jake. She's really cool and I think she can handle this. I mean, I know we can't tell her the whole truth but a cleaned up version of the truth should be fine."

"I don't know Nessie." I sighed in frustration.

She moved to lay her head on my chest and I groaned. She knew that if she kept physical contact with me I would have a harder time saying no. She shouldn't have known that but somehow she did. I couldn't resist running my fingers through her curls. Her eyes closed and she leaned into my hand.

"Please Jake. I'm so tired of hiding you. I want my friends to know you and Marnie to know you and I want you to be able to go to my graduation and," She took a deep breath and then looked up into my eyes, "And I want you to be my prom date."

It was my eyes that went wide now. I opened my mouth to speak then closed it again, unsure of what to say. The cocky version of me would have had some smooth comeback about how she wanted me and how I would think about it, but the cocky version of me had long ago died. This girl had me wrapped around her little finger. I was putty in her magical hands and while sometimes I thought she was still oblivious to my feelings for her, some days, like now when she was staring at me with such reckless abandon, I felt like maybe she was starting to understand and possibly reciprocate those feelings. My stomach, which usually never failed me, suddenly got a bad case of butterflies, a thousand tiny wings fluttering at the same time.

"Prom?" I raised an eyebrow at her and she grinned bashfully, her blush heightening just like Bella's used to.

"I know, I know." she sighed, "It's stupid and ridiculous. Just some crazy tradition for stupid teenagers to carry out as if no one in the world has anything better to do then get dressed up and dance the night away. But, I'm half way through senior year and everyone else is starting to talk about these things and Russell and Erin were talking about it and they want me to go but I always feel like a third wheel with them, and I thought about saying yes to one of the boys who have asked me, but honestly? Do you see me ever actually going out with one of those kids?"

I didn't WANT to ever see her going out with one of those kids but the thought actually made me chuckle. The way she called them kids as if she wasn't actually 7 years younger than most of them.

"So I just thought…" Her rambling continued and she shrugged, wrinkling her nose in frustration, "It's stupid right? I don't have to go to prom. Never mind."

Renesmee went to stand up then but I quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down, forcing her to stay laying next to me. She placed her chin on her balled up fists and stared at me. I couldn't decipher the look in her eyes. It wasn't something I had ever seen before. It was a mixture of expectations, disappointment and nervousness all rolled into one.

"I didn't say I wouldn't go with you." I said slowly, calculating my words very carefully, "But you know, me going to prom with you would just bring up a whole other round of speculations."

"I don't care what anyone speculates." Renesmee shrugged off the worries of the world, "In half a year, you and I will be leaving for Dartmouth and when we do, the only opinions in the world I will still care about are yours and Marnie's which is why I really want to introduce you to her and just make her understand. I want her to see that you are the one constant in my whole life. The one person I couldn't live without."

I wasn't used to these sorts of proclamations, especially not from Renesmee. She very rarely spoke her mind. If I was going to see the inner workings of her mind, I would usually have to get her to show me. She had never been this vocal about anything, let alone her feelings for me. "Feelings." I laughed inwardly. I needed to be careful what connotation I applied to that word. Her "feelings" were certainly more that of a younger sister towards her older brother and nothing more. She was still too young for them to be anything more. But somehow, I wasn't sure if I was reassuring myself of that fact for her sake or mine.

I nodded slowly. I could see in Renesmee's eyes she wasn't sure what the nod meant so I nodded more swiftly, sitting up just as she did.

"I will meet Marnie and hopefully she can wrap her mind around whatever we tell her." I paused, taking a deep breath just as the wind passed Nessie's intoxicating scent beneath my nose, "If she buys it, I will go to the prom with you."

She didn't speak, she just pounced on me, tackling me back to the ground as she hugged me tight. The full length of her body was pressed against mine, and despite how tiny she was compared to me, I couldn't help but notice how perfectly she fit there. Damn imprint. At least when I was in love with Bella I had KNOWN she was never going to want me back. This not knowing if, or when, it would be appropriate to let my feelings for Renesmee through was real torture.

"Okay." Renesmee pulled away from me and stood up, a smile plastered on her face, "I'm going to go home and talk to Marnie. I will call you to let you know how she reacts."

"No way." I objected immediately, springing to my feet to stand next to her, "I'm going with you. What if she freaks?"

"Fine." Renesmee shrugged, "Let's go. What are you waiting for?"

Her acquiescence surprised me. She usually put up a much bigger fight when I was challenging whether she could take care of herself or not. Of course, I knew that at this point she was more than capable of taking care of herself against ALMOST anything, and certainly with Marnie, but it still didn't change that I wanted to be there to oversee the situation.

"Alright, come on."

Renesmee led the way to her shiny black BMW and slid into the driver's seat, me as the passenger. This car always amazed me and I had teased Nessie about it for a while. Poking fun at her that she was the only girl who could find a "foster" parent who would buy her a BMW for her "16th" birthday.

"So what's the plan?" Renesmee asked as we sped into town.

"Don't ask me. This is your idea." I countered, crossing my arms over my chest, "You're the girl with the big plans."

"Jake!" She squealed, "You can't just leave me to figure it out on my own! Help me."

Her lips fell into a slight pout and she turned to me with silently pleading eyes. I knew I wasn't going to be able to resist her before she had even looked at me but I also knew I had no idea what to do in this situation. I had never formally met any of her foster families and even the idea of it now sort of scared me, not that I would ever admit that to her.

"The way I see it, we can approach it one of two ways." I took a deep breath, "One, I walk into the house with you and then we together explain as much of the truth as we can to Marnie or you go in, explain it while I listen from your bedroom and we see if she's even open to meeting me at all."

I watched Renesmee mull over both ideas in her head. If I had dared to ask her to give me one of her hands while she was driving I would have made her show me what her thoughts were. I tended to be impatient when it came to knowing what Renesmee was thinking.

"Both ideas have merit." Renesmee finally said, "On one hand I'd like to have you by my side while I explain to Marnie that I've been lying for three years but on the other hand, it might overwhelm her for a 6'7 male to walk into the house with her 18 year old foster daughter to make an announcement."

I completely agreed. Neither plan was perfect but we were going to have to pick one, and fast, because we were just a few minutes from her house now. I wanted to let Renesmee make the choice though I had a favorite idea in my head. It was her foster mother and her life we were potentially affecting here. Even though whatever affected Renesmee affected me too, it wasn't my decision to tell Marnie about me. It had to be up to her on how to handle it.

"Let's do it together." Renesmee finally said as we rounded the corner onto her street, "Just come in with me and we'll face Marnie together okay? We can get through anything together, and with you by my side, I have twice as much courage."

The car came to a halt in the driveway and Renesmee turned to me, taking a deep breath. When she was looking at me, her eyes searching my face, I didn't know what she was trying to find, but she must've found it because she smiled and placed her hand on my cheek. No images flashed through my mind this time and I realized she was simply touching me as an affectionate gesture.

"Come on." She said quietly, almost reluctantly, as she opened the car door, "We can do this."

We walked together to the front door of the house, Renesmee reaching out to hold my hand tightly. She used her free hand to grab the handle of the door and turn the knob slowly until it clicked and the door swung open. The foyer inside was brightly lit from the skylight above as we stepped inside. I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding; I had never seen the downstairs of this house, only Renesmee's bedroom, and it suddenly dawned on me that the BMW was not the only nice thing Marnie owned. Everything I saw was beautiful and clearly expensive, from the beautiful artwork on the walls to the intricately woven rugs on the hardwood floors. It was like stepping back into the Cullen's house in Forks. I was wholly aware of the fact that I didn't belong in these surroundings.

"Marnie!" Renesmee called out, looking around to see where her foster mother would appear from, "Where are you?"

"Studio!" Marnie called back from somewhere in the house.

Renesmee sighed and released her grip on my hand.

"Stay here. I can't take you in her studio so I'll go get her and be right back."

She was just moving to walk away from me and into a different part of the house when Marnie's voice carried again through the house.

"I'll be right there. Don't come back here."

Renesmee stopped in her tracks and then took a few steps back, placing her hand back in mine again. She looked up at me and smiled nervously which prompted me to do the only thing I could think of to calm her nerves. I pulled her into my arms, hugging her tight, and kissing the top of her head lightly.

"It'll be fine." I told her, although I had no way of knowing that for sure. This was territory we'd never covered before. The only thing I could compare the feeling to was that of a boyfriend meeting his girlfriend's parents for the first time, only Renesmee wasn't my girlfriend, Marnie wasn't her real mother, and I had never actually had a girlfriend, so maybe this wasn't the same at all.

At the other end of the hallway in front of us, Marnie suddenly appeared; looking much like the first day we had seen her. Her hair was mussed, paint covered all her clothing that was oversized and well worn. She was a sloppy mess in contrast to the surroundings of her immaculate home.

"Hey Marnie." Renesmee waved weakly, a slight waver in her voice as she squeezed my hand again, "Um, I brought someone for you to meet."

"I see that." Marnie laughed nervously as she approached us, wiping her hands all across her sweatshirt, apparently trying to clean off all the paint, "I wish you would have called me. I would have cleaned up a bit."

"Your home is beautiful." I assured her and then realized she was probably talking about her personal appearance more than she was the house and I felt a little stupid, "You're a painter?"

"I do a lot of different types of art." Marnie replied, looking me over, clearly sizing me up as she came to stand in front of Renesmee and I, extending her hand to me, "Marnie Lucas."

"Jacob." I didn't add my last name because I was honestly not sure what my ID stated at that moment.

As soon as I had stated my name Marnie's eyes went wide, her hand dropped to her side, and she was quickly looking back and forth between Renesmee and I. The question was written in her eyes but she didn't speak it. The only Jacob she knew existed was Nessie's brother who had abandoned his sister three years earlier. I could tell that she was hoping I was not one in the same, she didn't believe I could be the same person. Renesmee and I look nothing alike.

"Can we all go sit in the living room?" Renesmee asked hesitantly, motioning towards a room to our right, "We can get comfortable and then I'll explain everything Marnie."

Marnie was still letting her eyes dart back and forth between Nessie and I but she nodded her agreement to go sit down and the three of us headed together into the next room. My hand was still interlocked with Nessie's and I had no intentions of letting go, so we sat together on one couch facing Marnie sitting on the other. It was exactly the type of scene I would have envisioned for the boyfriend meets parents scene in a movie. We were only missing her father wielding a firearm, standing menacingly to the side of the room somewhere. I resisted the urge to smile as I envisioned Edward in that role.

There was an uncomfortable silence settling into the room as we all just sat and stared at each other. I was waiting for Renesmee to start her explanation but she seemed to be stuck, her mouth opening to speak then closing without a word escaping. If it wouldn't have looked weird to Marnie, I would have taken Nessie's hand and let her show me what she was thinking so I could communicate for her, but that would have been harder to explain so I waited.

"Can I just ask one question while we're all just sitting here formulating thoughts?" Marnie finally broke the silence and her eyes zeroed in on the hands still locked together between Renesmee and I, "You're not her brother are you?"

"No." I said with absolute honesty, "I am not her brother, but I am the guy she told you was her brother, if that makes sense."

Marnie nodded.

"Yeah, it makes sense but I'm not really understanding. I'm assuming there is some sort of explanation to be had here? Isabella?"

Renesmee cringed visibly when Marnie used her full alias. I knew from the way it was said that Marnie very rarely used the full moniker. It indicated that Renesmee was already in trouble with her foster mother.

"It's okay, but you have to start explaining." I whispered as I hugged Nessie to my side, Marnie's watchful eyes on us the whole time, "Right now her imagination is going wild and if you don't tell her what she needs to know she's just gonna get more upset."

Renesmee gulped and nodded, straightening again to face Marnie. She removed her hand from mine and instead folded her own two hands in her lap and took a deep breath.

"There's no way to really sugar coat this Marnie." Renesmee finally began to talk; "I've been lying to you since the moment I met you, obviously, since here sits Jacob, clearly not my brother. Just please let me try to get the whole explanation out before you ask questions okay?"

I admired Marnie's patience. She folded her own hands in her lap and sat back against the couch, nodding her agreement that she would listen first and ask questions second.

Renesmee took another deep breath and then began again.

"The whole story about my parents disappearing and my brother and I coming to Belgrade to look for them; that was a lie. My parents didn't disappear, they were murdered. My whole family was and so was Jake's. My mom, she knew that they weren't going to make it so she entrusted me to Jake and we've been running ever since. Running because the same people who killed my family could still be out there, looking to kill me too."

Marnie had sat forward again, her eye's boring into the two of us. There were tears brimming but she had promised not to say a word until the explanation was complete, so Renesmee continued.

"Jacob is my best friend. He's more family than he is just a friend so it was fairly easy for me to lie and say he was my brother but the point is, he's not. He's been taking care of me for as long as I can remember and part of taking care of me is making sure that I have a nice family to stay with in whatever town we choose to settle down in; because my life, from the day I was born, has been in danger. He never left town when I moved in with you. This is how it works wherever we go. We find a family, lie a little bit, I move in with them and he watches over me from a distance until it's time for us to move on. No one other than me ever knows he exists. Until now anyway." Renesmee paused, "I've decided that, you, as the second most important person in my life, deserve to know about him. The thing is Marnie, you're the closest thing to a real mom I've had since my parents died and you're also the only family I've lived with for more than a year at a time. You're wonderful and you do such a great job taking care of me and so does Jake and so I want you to know each other. There are going to be things we can't explain. We'll try but some things, we just can't. We've been on the run a long time and we've never encountered the danger directly so we don't feel like there's any imminent threat really anymore but at the same time, we don't want to do anything to put you in danger should things become serious again so, if we can't answer a question, you'll understand right?"

There was still silence from Marnie. Maybe she wasn't going to take this all in stride like Renesmee hoped. The tears still threatened to spill over. She was wringing her hands together, her leg bouncing nervously as she bowed her head and let it hang in the air. Renesmee looked up at me, fear evident in her eyes, but all I could do was shrug. I had no idea what to say to make anything better.

"Marnie, say something please?" Renesmee pleaded.

"I don't know what to say Belle." Marnie didn't look up but she held up one finger in the air, "Just give me a minute."

The silence engulfed us all for literally a minute, then Marnie looked up, her emotions seeming to be under control a little better.

"I knew you lied to me about your parents. I'm not stupid and what 15-year-old girl doesn't want to go to the police to find her family when she's lost? But I also knew that whatever was going on, you needed somewhere to stay. It was evident from that first second I met you that you needed me so I pretended to buy every word of your story and that was fine for me for the past three years. I didn't need to question it."

I had the distinct feeling there was a "but" coming up.

"But what HAVEN'T you lied to me about Belle? Jacob isn't your brother. Your parents didn't run away. Your life is in danger. My life could be in danger. How is this guy, who looks barely older than you do, the person who has been taking care of you for so many years? How long have you been on the run? Who is after you and if you know who is after you, and it's the same person who killed your families, why not go to the police? How many times have you moved? Why less than a year with each one? Why me? Why Belgrade?"

That was a lot of questions to answer. I suddenly found myself wishing I could read minds like Edward had been able to. It would have made answering these questions a lot easier, especially because Renesmee and I would have to make sure we were on exactly the same page so that we didn't say too much.

"My Grandpa Charlie used to say things were always on a need to know basis with my family. If he didn't need to know we didn't need to tell him." Renesmee laughed but I cringed as Marnie's eyes went wider.

"You knew your grandparents too? Where are they? Why aren't you with them? Were they murdered too and what kind of sick bastard would murder an entire family like that? What reason could there possibly be for that kind of massacre?"

"I think the point she was trying to make was that some of the answers to your questions are more than you need to know." I stepped in, finally speaking up. "Like she said earlier, there are going to be things we cannot explain to you for your own good, but we'll try okay? Just let us take it one question at a time."

Marnie was still looking at me like she was trying to figure me out. The look in her eyes left me no closer to knowing how she felt about me. It was a mixture of confusion, anger, pain and curiosity.

"Why me? Why Belgrade?" Marnie repeated, looking back to Renesmee.

"Um, we chose Belgrade because it's in a fairly rural area with plenty of woods, forest, and animals… those things are kind of important when we are choosing a place to live for any period of time."

"Why?" Marnie frowned.

"I can't tell you that." Renesmee sighed, seemingly defeated already.

"Okay." Marnie took a deep breath as if she was trying not to be irritated that we were already withholding information from her, "So why me?"

"We had no plan of choosing you actually." I spoke this time, "We were walking into town, and probably would have left because it was apparent that we weren't going to be accepted easily here, but then you walked out of that grocery store, dropped everything you had just bought and Nes…"

I trailed off when I realized I had almost used Renesmee's real name. My nervousness with the entire situation was apparently going to be a hindrance.

"You're name isn't really Isabella is it?" Marnie turned to look at Renesmee again.

Renesmee looked up at me then back at Marnie, shaking her head dejectedly.

"Isabella was my mom's name." She said quietly, "Obviously, since we're running and trying not to be found, we couldn't use my real name so, it changes from town to town. I don't like using Isabella because it reminds me too much of my mom but I was out of options."

"When we first met, I asked if I could call you Bella and you said…"

"That was my mom's name." Renesmee filled in the memory, "Then I corrected quickly to "That was my mom's name for me" and you bought it."

"And you can't tell me your real name right?" Marnie questioned.

Renesmee looked at me, as if I had all the right answers. I was at just as much of a loss as she was, but if she was looking to me for guidance, I would try to do the right thing. It would not be a good idea for Marnie to know her real name so I shook my head no.

"That's okay." Marnie sighed, "Jacob, you were saying?"

"Um," I tried to remember where I was with my story, "Oh, so you dropped everything and then before I could think she ran over to help you and the perfect opportunity had presented itself without any plan at all. So I walked away, watching but staying out of sight because I knew she would figure out a way to get you to take her home. She's super smart this one."

Renesmee blushed but smiled.

"You're a lot like Bella was." I told Marnie, watching Renesmee from the corner of my eye to gauge her reaction, "Super clumsy. I swear she risked her life everyday just stepping outside of her house. She was beautiful but she didn't think so, one of those people who considered themselves absolutely ordinary in every way and yet she was absolutely not ordinary in any way."

I saw Renesmee wipe away a tear and instinctively I pulled her to my side. Marnie smiled at the interaction and wiped away a tear of her own.

"So really, I chose you instead of you choosing me." Marnie laughed quietly.

"Basically." Renesmee agreed.

"So… your mother and your father were killed. Who else?" Marnie asked cautiously, "Your family too Jacob?"

"Well, yeah, sort of." I tried not to think about it too much because it made me as emotional as Renesmee and I didn't like her seeing me like that, "Bella and Edward, Edward's parents, his four brothers and sisters… my brothers and sister, there were a lot of them. They were all special, in ways that we can never explain and it was a massacre, or at least we assume it was. Bella ordered us away before the fight really began. Last thing we saw was all of them facing off with those who were there to fight back."

"So it was like a battle?" Marnie frowned, clearly not understanding, "That makes no sense. Why? When? Where?"

"It was over me." Renesmee said quietly, "Just like they were all special, I'm special too but I am… one of very few of my type. At the time we thought I was one of a kind, and those who were there to kill my family, they thought I was one of a kind and the fact that I was an unknown in their world scared them. Their first reaction was to kill what they didn't understand and of course, our families were not going to allow that. So they fought to keep me alive and lost their lives in the process."

"Your type?" Marnie was frowning even deeper now, "I don't understand. Please just explain a little bit better. I swear to you, your secret is safe with me, whatever it is but I'm in the dark here. Every explanation just brings up twenty more questions."

"You'll be in danger if I tell you." Renesmee sounded very sorry that she just couldn't be honest with Marnie, "I want to tell you Marnie. I trust you but I can't put you in danger too. If something did happen to you, like it happened to my family before, I could never forgive myself."

Marnie growled exasperatedly, throwing her hands up in the air. She looked toward the ceiling for a minute, carefully composing herself before turning back to us.

"If you left before the "battle" started, how do you know they died?"

There was no way that I could explain the loss of the voices in my head proving that there was no family left. If I told her I could hear my pack's thoughts, that would bring about another round of unwanted questioning that I couldn't answer.

"If they weren't dead, they would have found me by now." Renesmee said simply, "My parents adored me, especially my mother. The pregnancy alone almost killed my mother and so it was a miracle that we both survived it. When a miracle happens, you don't let it go very easily. If she was alive, she would be looking for me, and as long as we've been running, she would have found me. I have no doubt."

"But you conceal your identity specifically so that people can't find you right?"

The line of questioning lead my thoughts in another direction. She did have a point. Neither of us had ever actively gone looking to see if our families were really dead but then again, Nessie was right. Bella would have never let 11 years pass without finding her daughter. If nothing else, I was positive that my pack, Edward, and Bella were dead. Maybe the other Cullens could be alive, but not Edward and Bella.

"It's more than just identity. Like we said, they're special." I finally answered Marnie, "That's all we can say."

Marnie didn't look convinced but she accepted my answer with a curt nod.

"So this Grandpa Charlie you mentioned, he was the grandfather who died? What about your mother's parents?"

"My Grandpa Charlie is my mother's dad and as far as I know, he's still alive. He lives in Washington and I never met my Grandma Renee but last I heard she was living in Florida with her husband Phil. I'm honestly not even sure she knows I exist."

"None of this makes sense Belle." Marnie groaned loudly again, "I want to be understanding but it doesn't make sense. How long have you been running? Jacob, how old are you? How are you her protector when you can't be but a few years older than her?"

"Age is one thing that isn't going to add up here." Renesmee said simply, "Time and age work a little differently for Jacob and I then you might comprehend."

"Try me." Marnie stared deeply into Renesmee's eyes and then mine, "Be totally honest about this ONE thing."

"I'm 11." Renesmee said completely seriously, "We've been running my whole life. I was about 3 months old when we left but I aged at a very rapid speed until I was about 7, and then the aging stopped and I have looked like this ever since."

Marnie's eyes narrowed and she looked back and forth from Renesmee to me again. She shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest, shrugging.

"Fine, if you don't want to be honest with me than I can't force you."

"That's the truth!" Renesmee explained, "The whole truth! I'm not lying!"

"People age Belle. No one just stops aging, especially at 7 years old and you look and act 18 so how could you possibly be 11? It's not possible and I'm not that stupid. I don't blame you for thinking I am because I've bought the rest of it from day one, but come on!"

"She's telling the truth. And it's probably more information than you should have but I don't blame her for wanting to give you the complete truth on at least one thing." I sighed and looked over at Renesmee, her eyes brimming with tears again, "She aged very rapidly for the first seven years of her life. Bella was only pregnant for a month, that's how fast she was aging even in the womb. It has to do with her genetic makeup or so her grandfather explained to me once. When she was born we all thought she was one of a kind. We had never heard of anyone as special as this little girl but after she and I ran away, we headed to South America where we found that there are others, not a lot, but others who are the same. And they all, like her, stop aging at about 7, but appear at that point to look as if they are about 17 or 18. Their minds, likewise, age at the same rate their body does. By three months old she was running, jumping, talking, and reading. She's very advanced. I wasn't joking that she's super smart."

"How is that possible?" Marnie was gawking at the two of us.

These half-truths were starting to frustrate me. We had already told Marnie too much so what was stopping us from telling her everything at this point. I wasn't sure Renesmee would agree with me, but maybe we should just be honest with Marnie. She hadn't freaked out so far and she had more than enough to freak out about.

"Let's just tell her everything." I whispered to Renesmee as urgently and privately as possible.

"We can't Jake. It's too dangerous." Renesmee whispered back, casting a quick glance towards Marnie, "What if…"

"What if what? She already knows too much. She's already in danger and besides, you said it yourself, we aren't running anymore because it doesn't feel like there's any imminent threats anymore."

"What if she freaks out?" Renesmee was getting choked up, ready to cry again, "I don't want to leave. I just wanted you to meet her. I never wanted to put any of us in danger."

I nodded, wiping away her tears, letting her know that I understood that she never had any intention of the conversation going to this length. She just didn't want to hide me anymore and if I was honest, I was tired of hiding too.

"Can I have a say in this?" Marnie interrupted, peering over at the two of us whispering hurriedly to each other.

Renesmee and I looked at each other and then over to Marnie. I nodded slowly and Marnie sighed.

"Tell me everything. I won't freak out and even if I do, I'm not throwing you out Belle. I love you too much for that. You're a part of my family now and in fact, I will be very upset if you just disappear on me so there will be none of that okay? Just tell me. I want to know now. No more half truths. Just be honest."

Silence overwhelmed all of us. I had already resigned myself to sharing the truth with Marnie. Something about her just inspired complete trust and I was ready to tell her everything, but ultimately, it would be Renesmee's choice. It was her decision if she wanted Marnie to know the truth about her. After all, she was the half vampire, not me.

"Nessie." I nudged Renesmee from her thoughtful trance, "What do you say? You gonna tell her?"

Renesmee's lower lip quivered. She didn't know what to do and for a second I thought this was too much for her. Maybe I was giving her too much responsibility, one of those rare moments when I should have actually treated her as the 11 year old she really was.

She turned slowly to look over at Marnie and took a deep breath, steadying herself before she spoke. Her head dipped slightly as she glanced down at her hand, still clutched in mine but when she looked up again, there was confidence in her eyes. She had made a decision.

"The thing is Marnie," Renesmee smiled slightly as the words flowed from her lips, "My real name is Renesmee Carlie Cullen. I am the only daughter of Edward and Bella Cullen. I am half-human, half-vampire and I am best friend's with a werewolf named Jacob Black."


	6. Identity: Chapter Five

_**Author's Note: Wow! I know it has been FOREVER since I updated and I am so sorry but life has seriously interfered with my writing. I have a feeling that I will be getting a lot more done soon though, as my life has taken a drastic change in which I will now be alone A LOT with nothing to do but write. That's a longer story than this chapter though and let me tell you, this chapter is LONG. It's written for my beta as I promised her one good chapter of fluff. So here it is! I hope you all like it and by the way, OMG, thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! 10 reviews for one chapter for me is AMAZING so I'm super stoked. Anyway, enjoy! :)  
**_

**Chapter Five**

**Renesmee POV**

School was officially out for Christmas break. Two whole weeks where I could just be me, with no pretenses and no lies. It was the first time I had ever actually looked forward to Christmas break but then again, it was also the first time since I was a baby when I really felt like I had a family.

"Who is that gorgeous man standing next to your car?" Erin breathed as she wrapped her arm around me, the parking lot growing more and more crowded around us as the rest of the students escaped, "Wow."

Jacob's long locks blew freely in the wind from where he stood, leaning casually against the driver's side door of my car. Despite the snow on the ground, he looked comfortable in his jean cutoff shorts and black tank top, his arms crossed as he grinned in my direction.

"That would be Jacob." I smiled back at him, never loosing eye contact despite the hyperventilating girl at my side, "I'll call you later okay Erin?"

"Wait, you have to introduce me." She squealed, refusing to let go of me as I tried to walk away, "You told me your friend from North Carolina had moved in with you but you didn't say he was that beautiful."

I rolled my eyes and looked over at her. She was pouting, her puppy dog eyes pleading with me to introduce her to Jacob and so I gave in, guiding her towards my car alongside me.

Over the past month, since Jacob and I had revealed all our secrets to Marnie, a plan had been devised. We would let the word around town spread that my best friend from North Carolina would be moving in with Marnie and I, gradually introducing Jacob into the community. The month of planning, talking, and devising had allowed Marnie to come to terms with the truth. I was half vampire. Jake was a werewolf. Any other human being would have kicked us both out on our butts. Marnie was handling everything wonderfully.

At first, she didn't believe us, which was to be expected. In fact, I would consider that a normal reaction to that kind of news, but since she didn't believe us we had to prove it. She had screamed ridiculously when I had first touched her face to show her what I wanted to communicate but that scream didn't even come close to rivaling the one she emitted when Jacob came downstairs after phasing into a wolf.

Thankfully the screaming hadn't lasted long and then she began to relax.

"Hey Jake." I called out to Jacob as Erin and I made our final approach, "I have someone for you to meet."

Erin was shaking nervously next to me, an action I was sure Jacob could see. He shifted his smile to her smoothly as soon as we were within arm's reach and he reached out to shake her hand.

"You must be Erin." Jacob's deep voice sounded different when it was directed at someone other than me, "It's nice to finally meet you. Belle's told me a lot about you."

His eyes flickered to me and then back at Erin. It was still weird for him to use my fake name.

"Really? Cause she hasn't told me anything about you." Erin shot me daggers with her eyes and then turned sweetly back to Jacob, "It's cool that you moved here though. Now that we have a school break we can all hang out more, right Izzy?"

"Uh, sure." I shrugged and when Erin turned to glare at me again Jacob let a short laugh escape, quickly bottling it away before she looked back at him, "You, Russ, Jake and me. We can totally hang out."

"It'll be like double dating." Erin giggled happily.

My eyes went wide as I saw Jacob's eyes do the same. He looked to me and I stared back at him but neither of us said a word. Awkward silence ensued.

"Speak of the devil." Erin waved Russell over to the car excitedly, "Russ, this is Izzy's friend Jacob. The one who just moved here from North Carolina."

"Oh hey man, nice to meet you." Russell and Jacob shook hands quickly and then the silence fell around us for a minute again.

"We gotta run. Marnie's making some weird stew type thing for us." Jacob finally spoke up, "I think we're free tomorrow though so you figure out where we're going on that double date okay Erin?"

Erin's eyes lit up and she nodded excitedly while Jacob opened my driver's side door and waited for me to get in. I looked up at him as I moved to get inside and he winked at me. As soon as the door was closed behind me I frowned in confusion. Winking? Dating? This was all new territory for me.

I turned on the car and rolled down the window so I could hear what Erin, Russell and Jacob were still talking about.

"… and they're really good so I'll find out when they're playing and we should all take a road trip there." Erin laughed happily, "Bye Izzy. I'll call you tonight."

"K." I smiled at her and watched Jacob come around to the passenger side of the car.

When he wasn't looking Erin gave me two thumbs up, giggled and then turned and ran off through the parking lot with Russell. Russell shook his head and laughed in my direction before they were gone.

When Jacob was securely in the car, I pulled out of the parking lot carefully and headed towards our house. It was still funny to even think "our house" because I wasn't used to Jacob actually living with me. Again, new territory.

"Are you excited for Christmas break?" Jake asked as we drove along, the radio playing quietly in the background.

I glanced over at him and smiled, nodding simply. When I didn't expand my answer past the nod, his expression changed to something a bit more thoughtful. I again wished that I had my father's ability to read thoughts because I would have killed to know what he was thinking. Twice he opened his mouth to say something then closed it without a word.

"What?" I questioned him, "You're staring at me weird. What are you thinking?"

"Nothing." He lied, his grin spreading widely across his face, "It's nothing. How was your day at school?"

I didn't believe that he was thinking about "nothing" but I didn't push the subject. Instead I focused on driving and relaying the details of my completely nondescript school day. The only thing even remotely exciting about my day had been the end, when I had found him standing next to my car.

"So what's with the surprise anyway? You never meet me at school to ride home with me. What makes today special?" I asked, stealing another quick glance in his direction.

Jacob shrugged and ran his fingers through his hair, which I had to admit was quite appealing. It had gotten very long for the first time since we'd been on the run and I was surprised to see him wearing it down, loose and free.

"I thought it might be time to meet your friends. Marnie suggested it actually. She said that since you are gonna be on Christmas break, you'd want to hang out with your friends a bit and since I'm living with you now, I would maybe want to hang out with you guys too." Jacob looked over at me, a small smile in place, "Worked like a charm. Now we're double dating."

My heart seemed to race every time he said "dating." It was a ridiculous reaction that I would have to work on controlling pronto.

"To be double dating we would have to be dating first Jake." I countered him, "You and I were not dating last time I checked."

"I'm going to prom with you as your date." Jacob neutralized my argument quickly, "There is the word date in there correct?"

Apparently my heart also liked the sound of "date."

"Yeah, but…"

"Nope. Simple as that. We're dating." He grinned at me and for a second I forgot I was driving.

I couldn't tear my gaze from that lopsided smile.

"Eyes on the road Nessie." He gently used his index finger to point my face back towards the road in front of me.

With my heart beating the way it was, my chest threatened to restrict my airflow and hyperventilation was a definite possibility. I had begun to think of Jake in less of a big brother way and more romantically lately, but I definitely didn't see him looking at me the same way. This was the same guy who had been there for me since birth. He was THERE the day I was born. How could he ever think of me as anything other than a kid?

"So when is this prom anyway? I've been so worried about settling in with Marnie and making sure she really is okay with everything that I forgot to ask."

"Um, it's in April I think. I'm not sure the exact date." As Student Body President I was automatically on the prom social committee so I knew that I should know the date of the prom, but the erratic heartbeat was impeding on airflow which meant my brain wasn't functioning properly either. I was definitely going to have to work on getting my heart under control.

"So that gives us a few months then." Jacob nodded thoughtfully which caused a frown to etch its way onto my face.

A few months for what, I wondered silently.

We pulled into the driveway of our home just a few seconds later and I turned off the car with a quick click of the ignition. Neither of us made the first move to get out of the car, instead we sat in silence, turning to look each other in the eyes but never speaking.

"I hate not knowing what you're thinking. It makes me wish I had your dad's ability." Jacob said after a few quiet moments.

"I was thinking the same thing." I replied with a smile, "We better get inside. I can smell Marnie's cooking from here and if we don't go eat it, she's gonna get impatient."

"You would think, now that she knows you're half vampire and you don't like human food, she would let you stop eating it." Jacob mused, "Doesn't it seem like she's just more intent now to find something you'll like?"

"Unfortunately." I sighed and then laughed, "Maybe she will eventually just figure out how to make blood soup. Then I can humor her and eat it with crackers."

Jacob laughed loudly as we both opened our car doors and stepped outside. I reached for my backpack but Jacob had already retrieved it, carrying it for me inside.

"I wonder what's on the menu today." I sniffed the air and frowned, "I was totally kidding about blood soup, but it smells very bloody."

We both stopped at the front door cautiously. Jacob turned to me and we both sniffed at the same time this time. Without saying a word I knew what scent he was trying to detect and he knew the same of me; human or animal blood?

My sigh of relief echoed his as we turned the door knob and walked into the house. Animal. Marnie in the kitchen, butchered steaks and various forms of meat on the counters confirmed it. If it had been a human blood smell, it would have been an entirely different scene.

"Hey Marnie. Whatcha cookin?" I smiled at her when she jumped and spun towards Jacob and I standing in the kitchen doorway, well, me standing in the kitchen doorway. Jacob was too big to really fit.

"You're too quiet! Make some noise when you walk!" Marnie clutched her heart and worked to steady her breathing.

"Sorry." Jacob and I both apologized at the same time.

"It's a mythical creature thing." I shrugged, "We're terribly agile by nature."

"Yeah, the exact opposite of me." Marnie frowned but I knew she wasn't really upset, "How was school?"

"It was fine." I headed into the kitchen, eyeing all the bloody cuts of meat covering the counters. It took all my restraint not to pick one up and suck on it. That probably would have grossed Marnie out a bit, "You still didn't tell me what you're cooking."

"It's stew. I put beef, pork, and veal in there. Normally when you make stew you cook the meat first while everything else simmers then you add the meat to it and let it combine but I figured, if I put the meat in the stew raw and simmer it with the rest of the ingredients, as it cooks the blood will combine with the flavors of the stew and it'll probably still be pretty raw so there's a better chance you'll like it." Marnie smiled as if she had just created a cure for cancer, "Of course, I made a pot of normal stew for Jake and I."

"Thank you." Jake heaved a sigh of relief as he ducked into the kitchen, "I was starting to get sick at the idea of eating that."

I wasn't sure what to say to the idea of Marnie's stew. It smelled good, but that could be tainted by the smell of all the raw meat on the counters around me. I had a pretty good feeling that the normal ingredients were still going to ruin the stew for me but I had to try it. I would hurt Marnie's feelings if I didn't.

"So when's it gonna be ready?" I asked with as much enthusiasm as I could muster, "I'm really thirsty, err, hungry and all this bloody meat on the counters is kind of killing me."

"Come on you." Jacob picked me up before I had a chance to react, tossing me over his shoulder so he could carry me like a sack of potatoes, "Out of the kitchen so you don't scare Marnie and she'll let us know when the food is ready."

I was yelling for him to put me down while Marnie laughed happily, watching us leave the kitchen. If I was honest with myself, I didn't really want him to put me down, even with all the blood rushing to my head, it was nice when Jacob was holding me. I screamed happily when he tossed me onto the couch with ease. The laughing stopped when a large crack echoed in the room, both mine and Jacob's eyes went wide, and then the couch collapsed. Oops.

"Did you just break my couch?" Marnie called out exasperatedly from the kitchen.

Jacob and I stifled the laughter that was threatening to break loose while I managed a small "yes" in answer to Marnie's question.

Her loud exaggerated sigh broke the flood gates and once the giggling started, we couldn't stop. Jake fell down on the broken couch next to me and we just laughed heartily until Marnie was standing over us, as menacing as she could possibly be, which wasn't menacing at all really.

"This is the fourth piece of furniture you two have broken in a month!" Marnie complained, "Seriously, I'm gonna just get rid of everything in this house because apparently they don't make werewolf and vampire proof furniture!"

We continued to giggle but I was trying really hard not to snicker. Jake's face strained with his effort but the laughter continued.

"Ugh!" Marnie rolled her eyes and walked away, back to the kitchen, which only pulled another round of breathless rasping from Jake and I.

"We're gonna have to go get her new furniture for Christmas." Jacob managed to finally breath long enough to speak, "I hadn't gotten her anything anyway."

"Me either." I was still grinning but the laughter was dying down, "Let's go shop now. I'm sure by the time we get back the food will be ready."

"If you can call what she's making you food." Jacob made a gagging motion with his finger so I responded with a couch pillow to his face.

The surprised expression on Jacob's face was enough to start my hysterics all over again, until suddenly a pillow was smashed in my face. It very quickly turned into an all out pillow fight as Jake and I ran around the house, screaming, and trying unsuccessfully not to break anything else while we tossed and slammed each other with pillows.

"What else are you breaking?" Marnie yelled when another loud smash echoed from where Jake had just thrown a pillow at me, missed, causing the pillow to fly over my head and crash against a bookshelf which had buckled under the missile strength of Jake's attack.

"Um… a bookcase!" I called back, shaking my head at Jake, smiling while I chastised him silently.

"That's it! I'm taking all your presents back to the store and buying myself furniture instead. You two are ridiculous!" Marnie growled, never leaving the kitchen. I assumed she was scared about how everything would look if she ventured into the rest of the house.

"No!" I bounded past Jake and into the kitchen, smiling widely, "We'll clean it all up and get you werewolf and vampire proof furniture. We promise."

Marnie raised her eyebrows at me and shrugged, a slight smile playing across her face.

"You better."

"How long until the food is ready?" I sniffed the air and had to admit the stew was smelling better and better every second.

"Probably another hour."

"Okay, we'll be back." I hugged Marnie quickly and then ran back out of the kitchen with speed that was sure to have left Marnie still slightly shocked, "Jake!"

He surprised me by jumping out from behind a wall when I entered the room and I screamed loudly, reflexively reaching out and punching him in the stomach. He groaned, clutching his abdomen but laughing.

"You didn't have to punch me. God, why do your punches have to actually hurt?"

"Cause I'm awesome, don't scare me like that!" I ran my sentences into one and frowned, "Did I really hurt you?"

"I just wasn't expecting it." Jacob took a deep breath, "I'm okay though. You're not supposed to get scared anyway. You're supposed to be able to sense when there's danger nearby remember?"

I nodded, suddenly remembering all the time we had spent making sure I was always on my toes when I was younger. I had let my training kind of fall to the wayside now that we lived here. It always felt so safe that I hadn't thought about needing to be careful anymore.

"Well one, you're not really dangerous, you just surprised me, and two, I just wasn't paying attention but I'll make sure I do from now on okay?"

The mood had turned serious and I had a feeling Jake hadn't meant for the turn of atmosphere. He smiled and pulled me over to him, hugging me against his chest.

"I just want to keep you safe." He whispered loud enough so that only I would have been able to hear him, "Now, what were you coming to find me for?"

"Shopping." I looked up at him with a wide grin, "Werewolf and vampire proof furniture. We're on a mission."

"Technically you're only half-vampire." Jake pointed out as I grabbed him by the hand and tugged him towards the front door.

"Whatever."

It was only an hour later when Jake and I returned home, a fruitful shopping trip behind us. We had brought home with us as much as we could fit in the car and lied to Marnie, telling her we would keep looking but that it was all we could find at the time. Truthfully, we had found new furniture for the entire downstairs of the house but it wouldn't be delivered until Christmas Eve, just in time to surprise Marnie. She seemed disappointed but she tried to hide it so that she could serve dinner instead.

The table was set for the three of us to eat dinner together. Marnie used a ladle to serve me a bowl of my stew and then a separate ladle to serve herself and Jacob. They were both staring at me, waiting for me to take a bite before they did.

With a deep breath I slowly dipped my spoon into the bowl and brought the first taste of the stew to my lips, slurping the juice slowly and then eating the chunk of fairly raw meat. I analyzed the taste carefully and while it wasn't as horrendous as Marnie's food usually was, it wasn't horrible either. I could do without having to eat the meat just to get the blood from it but overall, the effect wasn't bad.

"It's almost good Marnie." I smiled at her when she breathed a sigh of relief, "The soup part is better than the chunky stuff. It's like blood hyped up on seasonings."

"Gross." Jacob wrinkled his nose in disgust, "Slurp your blood soup without the description okay?"

Marnie laughed at the two of us and then turned her attention to her own bowl of soup. We all ate relatively quietly, the only noise surrounding us was the slurping of soup as Jacob wolfed down three large bowls in the time it took Marnie and I to eat one. As I got to the bottom of my bowl, I realized the stew really was quite tasty, so it thrilled Marnie when I served myself seconds.

"I cannot believe she's eating real food." Jacob sighed, watching me in disbelief, "Or almost real food anyway. Technically it's edible right?"

"Yeah, it's completely edible. It's probably not seasoned correctly for normal people to eat it but it's edible." Marnie was still staring at me, "Wow. I'm impressed with myself."

"It's just food people. You've seen me eat before." I rolled my eyes at both of them but they continued to watch me cautiously, as if I was going to suddenly change my mind about the food and start complaining about how gross it was.

"This is different." Jacob commented.

"Yeah, you're not making faces that show how much you hate it." Marnie added.

"Whatever." I scoffed, pushing the bowl away even though I wanted to keep eating, "I can't eat with you two watching me like that."

Their eyes turned away and I caught each of them giggling towards their own bowls, eyeing me carefully while I pulled the bowl back towards me, scooping another mouthful up. I caught Jake's massive grin but didn't call him on it. Technically they were right. This was the first time I had eaten partially human food and liked it.

The phone rang while we were eating and Marnie stood to grab it on the second ring. The rule at the dinner table was that she was the only one allowed to pick up the phone, which seemed very unfair to me, but since I rarely received phone calls anyway, I never really bothered to argue.

"Hi Erin." Marnie smiled into the telephone receiver.

Jake and I exchanged a smile as well. Leave it to Erin to call when we had already told her we were busy for the night.

"Okay, hold on." Marnie put Erin on hold and rejoined us at the dinner table.

I was standing up to grab the phone when Marnie interrupted.

"She doesn't want to talk to you." Marnie said simply, "She's calling for Jake."

Jacob laughed loudly, wiping the soup off his face and then standing, ruffling my hair as he passed.

"Your friends already like me better than you." He teased and then picked up the phone, "Hello?"

I refused to listen to his side of the conversation, choosing to pout instead. Not that I really cared if Erin was calling for me or not but the question was, why was she calling for Jake? And why did it matter that she was calling for Jake? There was a stir of some emotion I didn't recognize building in my stomach, working it's way through my veins. It wasn't anger or fear. I definitely wasn't happiness. It almost made me sick to my stomach.

"Hey Marnie, Erin would like to know if Belle and I can go out tonight? There's this band playing in Missoula she wants us to go see with her and Russell."

"Missoula?" Marnie questioned, her eyebrows raised high, "That's like 3 hours away."

"We don't have school tomorrow." Suddenly the sickness in my stomach was gone, that weird emotion never truly identified, and I was hoping for Marnie to say yes to this. Knowing that Erin had called to invite BOTH of us out made me feel a lot better.

"I know but…" Marnie seemed hesitant.

"Marnie, honestly, what's gonna happen to us?" I whispered so there was no chance Erin could hear me, "No one is going to win over Jake and I. Half-vampire? Werewolf? Remember? It's completely safe."

Marnie was debating with herself, I could see it through her eyes. On one hand, she knew that we would be safe because of what we were but on her other hand, she was fighting the protective motherly instincts that were so strongly embedded into her. Letting your teenage "daughter" out any night to drive three hours to a strange city with just friends to see a band was not a normal mom's idea of a smart choice.

"When would you be home?" Marnie asked, turning to Jacob who was grinning amusedly.

"Tomorrow." Jacob answered honestly, still letting Erin hold while we waited, "We'll get a hotel room tonight after the concert, that way none of us are too tired to drive back."

"A hotel room Jacob?" Marnie's eyes just about fell out of her skull, "Tell Erin you'll call her back."

"Erin," Jacob was laughing, "I'll call you back."

When the phone was safely on the cradle, Jacob returned to the dining room table and the two of us waited for Marnie to speak.

"Look, I understand that the two of you don't need me to parent you. Jacob, you're definitely old enough to not have to ask permission to go out although I thank you for putting up the show anyway and Belle… Renesmee." She still struggled with calling me by my real name sometimes, "Jake's been looking after you for your whole life so I trust that if he says you can go, you can go. So you don't really need my permission, but it doesn't change the fact that everything in me screams that letting two teenagers -which you both are to the public eye- go to Missoula with no parental supervision for an overnight trip would be very irresponsible! Especially knowing that you are going with two REAL teenagers- the human kind- who are probably going to want to do irresponsible things like, I don't know, have sex. I don't want to know if either of you are having sex with each other or otherwise, please don't tell me."

"Marnie!" The words themselves shocked my innocent ears. Even Jacob's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"I'm just saying!" Marnie sighed, glancing over at me, "It's nice of you both to pretend like you need my permission. Go if you want to."

It was quiet around the table for a minute before Jacob began to chuckle.

"You worry way too much Marnie." Jacob stood and rounded the side of the table, uncharacteristically offering Marnie a hug before he headed for the phone, "And don't worry, we're not having sex. With each other or otherwise."

I could feel my blush heighten as I let my head fall down onto my arms in front of me. Embarrassment was not an emotion I was particularly fond of.

"What's Erin's number?" Jacob called out to me as he held the phone in his hand.

I recited the number without picking my head up from the table and listened to him tell Erin that we could go. He told her we'd pick her and Russell up in an hour and to make sure their parents knew they weren't coming home tonight. I wondered if their parents were going to allow that but when he hung up a few seconds later, I assumed there was no problem.

"You better go get ready." Jacob said, touching his hand to my elbow as he passed, "You done eating?"

I looked up at him, the mortification had to have still been etched on my face. He grinned and winked, too fast for Marnie to have noticed. Just like it had earlier, my heart sped to twice the normal rate. I pressed my hand to my chest as if I was willing it to stay in one piece and not let my thumping heart escape. Such a weird feeling to be so dazed and affected by Jacob's simple words or actions. It had never been like this before.

"You sure it's okay Marnie?" I turned to her, double checking just to be nice.

She sighed and nodded, waving me away from the table.

"Go on. Go get ready."

It didn't take long to pack my overnight bag and slip into something that would be appropriately sexy and yet casual for a concert in Missoula. I ended up sticking with jeans, a deep blue collared button up with black vest over it. Casual, comfortable and if I admitted it to myself, completely hot.

"Okay, I'm ready." I joined Jacob and Marnie downstairs only a few minutes after I had run upstairs, my bag slung over my shoulder, "When do we leave?"

Both of them were silent staring at me as if they had seen a ghost.

"What?" I looked myself over quickly, "Is there something wrong? I thought I put clothes on but are they illusions?"

"No. No." Jacob was the first to talk, taking a step towards me, his goofy smile taking over his features, "You look great. Let's get out of here."

The drive to Erin's house was short enough that the silence didn't unnerve me. I was still feeling a little shocked from my erratic heartbeat so words probably wouldn't have been the best idea anyway.

"Erin!" As was customary with my human best friend, I went inside the house without knocking or waiting for someone to let me in. Jacob followed, but hesitantly, as if he was afraid that his presence might not be welcome.

"Isabella!" Erin's mom appeared at the top of the staircase and smiled widely at Jacob and I in the foyer, "And this must be Jacob, you're friend from North Carolina."

"Yep." I smiled back at her and turned to look at Jacob, who was still standing awkwardly next to me, "Jake this is Erin's mom Olivia, but most people call her Liv. Liv this is Jake."

"It's nice to meet you." Jacob shook her hand politely but Liv wasn't going to settle for a handshake. She was what we liked to call "a hugger."

Her quick embrace caught Jake off guard and his eyes darted to me in panic. I laughed but did nothing, as Liv was already pulling away and standing back, smiling at us both.

"So, Missoula for the night? Erin says a band is playing. She told me the name, but it's not like I remember these things right?"

Liv was infectious. I loved being around her because she was so enthusiastic about life. She was one of those perfect soccer moms you see on TV, who always have snack ready when their kids come home from school and they attend every single school play or recital or whatever school activity their child is participating in, always unconditionally supportive no matter what.

"Yeah. I don't know what band it is either but she invited us so we're going. It should be fun. We haven't done anything like this before."

"Well usually, we wouldn't be so crazy as to send three," Liv eyed Jacob for a second before finishing her sentence, "or four teenagers to another city three hours away by themselves for an overnight trip."

"I'm 19." Jacob lied to her as he could sense she wanted to know how old he was. He looked like he was probably 24 or 25 but for cover purposes, we had lowered his age so he was just old enough to not be in high school anymore but not so old that it was weird for him to be friends with people who were in high school.

"Still a teenager then." Liv winked at him, "So, you'll all behave yourselves right? It took a lot of effort on my end to convince Bradley that the four of you weren't up to no good on this trip."

Bradley was Erin's dad. He must have heard his name because he came out from his downstairs office then, his wire rimmed glasses still resolutely in place over his eyes, despite the fact that I knew he only needed them for reading.

"Izzy." He hugged me with a smile and eyed Jacob warily, "You're gonna take care of Erin tonight right? Make sure she doesn't get in trouble?"

"Of course." I replied quickly, "That's my job, everyday it gets harder but I'm always up for the challenge."

"I heard that!" Erin called from upstairs, "I'll just take like two more minutes okay?"

"Take your time!" Jacob called back to her, "We're not in a hurry."

"Oh, Bradley this is Jacob. Jacob, this is Erin's dad Bradley." I introduced the two who had not yet met and they shook hands. Bradley was still sizing Jacob up, obviously trying to get a feel for this gigantic man sized "teenager" in his living room. It was always funny to see the way adults reacted to Jacob. Every reaction was different.

"Just moved here from North Carolina right?" Bradley asked Jacob, "What part?"

"Charlotte." Jacob told the fabricated story easily, "Parents said I could either go to college or they'd give me the money they had saved for my college fund and I could spend it however I wanted and well, I'm 19 so you can guess which path sounded better to me."

Jacob laughed lightly.

"I deferred my acceptance to Dartmouth for a year, invested a little bit of the money and made a pretty good return on it so now I'm set pretty much for life and decided I would move out here with my best friend until she was ready for college and then we could go together. Now we just have to wait to see if she got into Dartmouth."

"Did you apply Early Decision?" Bradley directed this question to me, "You should find out soon if you did right?"

I nodded happily.

"Yeah, they said they start mailing out the notifications in mid-December so we should receive it any day now."

Honestly, I had been thinking about it every single day, just waiting for the letter to show up in the mail. Dartmouth was my dream school. The only college I had ever truly wanted to attend. If I didn't get in, I wasn't sure what I was going to do.

The doorbell rang before we could continue the conversation and Liv headed off to answer it.

"It's just Russell!" Erin yelled from upstairs as she appeared at the top of the steps, "Okay, I'm finally ready."

Where I had packed just one small overnight bag, Erin was carrying a bag that looked like it held enough stuff for a weeklong vacation. It was enormous enough that she looked like she might topple down the stairs just trying to carry it.

Jacob bounded up the stairs two at a time to grab the bag so Erin wasn't in mortal danger just trying to come downstairs. She grinned at him thankfully and they had joined us back in the foyer just as Russell and Liv were joining us as well.

"Now the gang's all here." Liv laughed happily, "Better get going before it gets too dark. I don't like the idea of you guys driving at night. People are more dangerous at night."

I resisted the urge to tell Liv that people in general were the same amount of dangerous at night as they were during the day, just that night provided cover for the danger. She might change her mind about letting us go if I told her that.

"Hey Russ, what's up?" I hugged Russell to start the newest round of greetings then immediately followed those greetings with goodbyes to Liv and Bradley before we all headed out to my car and piled in.

Jacob insisted on driving.

"Do you even know how to drive a car?" I questioned him before letting him take the car out of park, "I don't think I've ever seen you drive. Seriously, I'm not sure about this. This car is very special to me."

"Shut up and put your seatbelt on." Jacob retorted, looking over at me with a raised eyebrow, daring me to challenge him, "I'm a better driver than you."

"Doubt it." I mumbled, glancing back at Erin and Russell who were laughing quietly in the back, "Whatever you say Jake. Whatever you say."

"Here Izzy. Plug this in. We are going to listen to my mix of songs from my mp3 player. You'll like it."

I took the cord Erin asked me to plug in and plugged it into the car. The music came through the speakers loud and clear, bass, melody and lyrics swirled together perfectly. I closed my eyes, letting the music take over my senses and before I knew it, we had arrived in Missoula. I woke up just in time to see the hotel come into view and Jacob swing the car effortlessly into the nearest parking spot. Erin was practically jumping out of her seat with excitement.

"Wake up sleeping beauty." Jacob brushed a few stray curls from my face and smiled, "Come on. We're gonna check into the hotel and then head over to the concert."

I nodded slowly, stretching the sleep from my limbs and then opened the car door and stepped out. Erin was shivering in the cold but to me, the clear cold night was perfect. Just a light dusting of snow had fallen on the ground and it crunched quietly as we walked towards the check-in desk.

"Hi. We have two rooms reserved under Jacob Lonewolf." Jacob glanced over at me when he told the concierge his name and I resisted the urge to laugh.

"Everyone here over 18?" The concierge eyed our group warily.

Russell and Erin had moved to sit together on a sofa nearby, Erin on his lap wrapped in his arms for warmth. I moved to the counter next to Jacob.

"Yep." Jacob replied easily, "Do you need ID for all of us?"

The concierge eyed us again but shook his head.

"No, just your ID and credit card for incidentals."

Jacob handed those over and while the concierge moved to check us in, Jake turned to smile at me.

"You have a good nap?"

I nodded. That feeling of partial sleep hadn't worn off completely and I was wary to actually speak. In these times I usually communicated with Jacob by placing my hand to his face and showing him what I wanted to say. I was halfway there when I realized the company we were holding and thought better of it. I didn't want it to look out of the ordinary.

"Still half asleep." I mumbled.

He pulled me against his chest and held me there, letting his fingers run up and down my back lightly. If the concierge hadn't returned then, I probably could have fallen back asleep standing right there.

"Okay, here are your room keys. Two for each room. Checkout is by noon tomorrow. You're in rooms 210 and 212." The concierge showed us on a map where the rooms were located and then sent us on our way.

"Here." Jacob handed keys to each of us, "You guys go check out the rooms. I'll get the luggage."

"That's a lot to carry, Jake." Erin argued, although I knew Jake could have handled the bags by himself, "Russ will help you."

Russell agreed and followed Jake to the car while Erin and I headed for the elevators.

"I'm so excited." Erin giggled as we waited, "I've never had a whole night alone with Russ. I mean, we've… you know, but not where we can just fall asleep together afterwards and cuddle. Neither of us has to get home before curfew…"

I could feel myself blushing.

"Sorry. I'm probably making you nervous." Erin led the way into the elevator and she grinned as the doors closed behind us, "I know you're a virgin. Are you giving it up to Jake tonight?"

"Erin!" I gasped, shocked at her words.

"Sorry." Erin held up her hands in retreat, "Don't yell at me. I was just asking."

"It's not like that with Jake and I. We're friends."

"Okay." Erin sighed, "I mean I just met him today but I've seen the way he looks at you. He wants to be more than friends. He adores you."

"Erin…" Her words started my heart thumping again and I fidgeted with the room key in my hand. "It's really not like that."

"If that's what you need to tell yourself." Erin laughed and playfully kicked me in the butt as the elevator doors opened and she ran out of them, down the hall towards our rooms.

I chased after her happily, playfulness replacing my nervous feeling. We reached our rooms and each slid our keys into the door. Mine opened but hers didn't and we both frowned.

"Why doesn't it work?" She looked the key over and then back at the door, trying it again.

"Let me see." I let my room door close again took her key from her, trying it again on the door for room 210. After another rejected attempt, I looked at the key and then sighed, "Erin, we both have keys for room 212. That's why yours isn't working for 210."

"Oh." Erin frowned and took her room key back, "Jake must have given me the wrong key."

"Nope. Gave you the right one." Jacob and Russell appeared out of nowhere, all the luggage in tow, "Girls in 212. Boys in 210. I promised several parental units I would take care of you guys tonight, and I plan on keeping my promise."

Erin's mouth fell open in surprise.

"But Jake…"

"Open the door please." Jacob ignored Erin and motioned for me to open the door to our room.

I laughed and obeyed, opening the door so that Jacob could go inside and drop off our luggage. He set Erin's luggage on one of the queen sized beds and mine on the other, keeping his bag slung over his shoulder comfortably.

I watched Jacob glance to the door where Erin was having a quiet but heated discussion with Russell. I laughed, listening to every word.

"Talk to him. You're a guy. He's a guy. He'll listen to you and let us switch rooms." Erin was hissing under her breath.

"Erin, Jake's just doing what he told our parents he would do and keeping us safe. We just met him…"

"He wants to sleep with Izzy and you know it. Just appeal to his masculine side. She'll put out. I know she will."

Jacob cleared his throat loudly, clearly having heard every word of the conversation also. He shook his head in my direction then headed for the door again.

"Meet us downstairs in ten minutes okay?"

I nodded and then with a click, Erin was left inside the room with me, her mouth still hanging open and Russell was whisked next door to the room with Jake.

"This is so not fair." Erin pouted, "I'm 18. Russell is 18. You're 18. Jake's 19. There is no reason why we can't sleep where we want to sleep."

"Except that Jake is paying for the rooms and therefore it's his decision." I fell onto the bed Jacob had designated as mine, unzipping my bag and looking for my toothbrush, "Don't pout Erin. We're here to have fun. At least we're here! Let's just go out to this concert and have a good time okay?"

"Whatever." Erin pulled her bag open and grabbed an outfit that was sitting on the top of the pile. She didn't say another word as she disappeared into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

I giggled again as I finally located my toothbrush and headed to the sink to brush my teeth. I had just finished and set the toothbrush on the sink when there was a knock on the door.

"Yes?" I opened the door and found Jake standing there, grinning.

"Erin in the bathroom?" He asked quietly.

I nodded, glancing back to make sure she was still in there.

"So is Russ. Listen, I'm totally okay with them sharing a room if they want to but I didn't want it to seem presumptuous on my part. I mean, you heard what she said when she thought we couldn't hear her. She thinks that I want you like, really want you and it's not like you, and I haven't shared a room before besides when we were on the run - but I didn't want you to feel like you had to share a room with me tonight and I'm rambling." Jacob took a breath and let his lopsided grin take over his features, "You think I'm crazy don't you?"

"No." I let my hand rest on his cheek and replayed the conversation that had taken place in the elevator.

He let it play and then sighed, placing his hand over mine and bringing it down to rest over his heart.

"I'm having a really hard time reminding myself that you're technically only 11 years old." Jacob looked directly in my eyes and for the first time I could see the emotion, more than friends yet less than lovers, smoldering there.

My heart rate tripled and I gulped loudly.

"I'm not 11 Jake." I said quietly. If he had been anyone else, he wouldn't have heard the words, "Emotionally, physically, and in every way that counts, I'm just as old as you."

"Not quite." He grinned again, "But definitely close."

"Izzy, can you?" Erin's question faltered as she came out of the bathroom and found Jake and I practically embraced in the doorway. Her eyebrows rose and she smiled, "Sure you don't wanna switch rooms Jake?"

"No." Jake released my hand and took a step backwards, "See you downstairs in a minute."

He was gone before I could object and I was left staring at the empty hallway. I sighed and let the door shut, turning to look at Erin instead.

"Sorry." She apologized, "Didn't mean to scare him off."

"Not your fault." I smiled at her, "Did you need me for something?"

"Zip me?" She turned and I saw that the zipper for her red mini dress was undone in the back.

I went to her and zipped the dress up so her outfit was complete. She twirled and I smiled. She was the picture of perfection. The dress hugged her curves, she was perfectly tanned despite it being the middle of winter, and her stiletto heels complimented both the outfit and her fit legs.

"You look fabulous." I told her honestly, "I feel completely under dressed."

"You're not gonna change?" She frowned at what I thought had been a completely acceptable outfit, "Please tell me you brought one appropriate dress for the evening?"

I grimaced and the answer must have been obvious to her.

"Great and I have no time to make you presentable. Strip. We have to do this quickly."

I didn't think about it. It was clear that I was going to have to just follow her direction as she wasn't going to give me a choice and given the new developments between Jacob and I, I almost wanted to be dressed up.

"Luckily I brought options, we're about the same size and you have amazing hair otherwise this situation would be impossible. Here. Try this." She tossed a floral printed dress my direction and without even trying it, I tossed it back.

"I don't do floral. Next."

She groaned and tried again, tossing a black chiffon dress at me. It was sleeveless, short, and had a deep v-neck. I was pretty sure it was going to look ridiculous on me but it was better than the floral dress so I slipped it over my head and cleared my throat so Erin would turn to look.

If her eyes hadn't been deeply embedded into her face, I was positive they would have fallen to the floor. Her mouth fell open and she began to nod, slowly at first and then with more enthusiasm.

"Wow." Was all she said, zipping up her bag which I assumed meant she liked what I already had on, "Shoes, do you even know how to wear heels?"

"No, but I learn quick." I kicked my shoes to the other side of the room excitedly and she tossed me a pair of silver heels that were quite possibly even higher than hers.

"Put those on and then go to the mirror."

I slipped the shoes onto my feet, buckling the strap at the ankle and then admiring them for a minute on my feet. The rhinestones sparkled marvelously and I was brought back to my younger days, when my mother would give me shiny toys to play with. I had always liked things that sparkled.

"Mirror Izzy. We have like 2 minutes." Erin pulled me to the mirror and like I had promised, I learned to walk in the heels quickly. I only tripped once and then it came easily to me, "I hate you for having flawless skin."

"Shut up." I rolled my eyes.

"No foundation, no blush needed. Close your eyes." I obeyed and she went to work, "We will just apply a quick coat of eyeliner and mascara, some light eye shadow and then, voila!"

She was very quick with the makeup and when I opened my eyes again it was as if someone other than me was in the mirror.

"Lip gloss." She handed me a clear tube of lip gloss which I applied and then I was in absolute shock.

"Wow Erin. You really know how to transform a girl."

"I have practice." She grinned, "Come on. We gotta get downstairs. Jake and Russ are gonna be waiting."

She grabbed her clutch and stuffed my ID in with hers, realizing that I did not have an acceptable purse and she hadn't brought an extra one. For the night, we would just share.

"I still love your locket." Erin reached up and fingered the locket I wore all the time, "It goes perfect with everything."

"That's good 'cause I wouldn't ever take it off." I clutched it tightly as we entered the elevator, "It's the last thing my mother ever gave me."

Erin squeezed me reassuringly.

"Don't cry. It will mess up your makeup."

I was laughing as we exited the elevator where we found Jacob and Russell waiting for us. The work that Erin had done on me must have been even better than I thought because the moment we appeared, both of the boys mouths fell open.

"Wow Izzy, you clean up nicely." Russell commented first.

"She looks great right?" Erin grinned as she went to his side, looking me over again, "I'm awesome."

I laughed nervously, eyeing Jacob who still hadn't said a word. He was still staring and his mouth was still open which I took as a good sign but hopefully the shock would wear off soon. If he didn't snap out of it I was gonna have to try to learn how to drive in stilettos and I wasn't sure how well that was gonna go.

"Say something." I whispered, my lips barely moving. Erin and Russell wouldn't know that I had said anything but the words reached Jacob.

His head twitched ever so slightly and that grin that I loved so much stretched across his face.

"You look amazing."

Jacob reached his hand out for mine and after that, there was not a single moment during the night when he wasn't touching me in some way. He tucked my arm into his to lead me to the car, held my hand during the drive, led me through the crowded bar with his hand at the small of my back, and even wrapped his arms around me while we listened to the band. It was an amazing night and it cemented the feelings I had been trying to push away for awhile. No longer would it just be Jake and Nessie, protector and friend. Our relationship was changing.

"Here." The four of us lingered by the car as the parking lot emptied around us. Jacob reached into his pocket and handed Erin his hotel room key, "Give me yours."

Erin squealed happily, reaching into her bag and digging out her key to give to Jacob.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jacob smiled at her but then looked at me and his smile widened, "Let's get out of here."

He held my hand again on the way back to the hotel but this time I was nervous. Like he had said earlier, it wasn't like we hadn't shared a room before, but it seemed changed now. This time it wasn't just sharing a room or even a bed. Even if we didn't have sex- which I didn't think would happen because Jacob was too cautious a person to jump straight to that when we hadn't even had a real conversation about what we were becoming yet - sleeping in the same room was different now. It felt altered.

When we had reached our rooms, Jacob and Erin switched luggage and then Erin disappeared with Russell, leaving Jacob and I in our own room. I sat down on my bed, crossing my legs and biting my lower lip, afraid to meet his gaze. I could sense him fidgeting at the doorway. He hadn't moved a step closer to me.

"This is weird." He finally broke the silence, "Feels different right?"

"I was thinking that in the car." I nodded, still not meeting his gaze, "Changed. Something between us has changed."

I heard him take three large steps and then he was in front of me. He kneeled and his face became level with mine. I could no longer resist looking up into his eyes.

"You are so beautiful." He exhaled slowly, his finger resting under my chin so I couldn't look away again.

I didn't know how to respond. Thank you didn't seem like enough. Not saying anything seemed rude.

"I'm the same as I've been for the past four years." I replied with a teasing smile.

"Four years of torture." Jacob groaned, "I constantly walk this very thin line of being your protector, your friend, your brother or slipping to the other side where you were made just to be mine."

My eyes widened.

"I'm not trying to scare you." Jacob caressed my face gently with his rough fingers, "Have I ever told you about imprinting?"

I frowned. Imprinting? That sounded weird and ominous.

"In Quileute legend, the wolves find their mates through a thing called imprinting, sometimes. It's supposed to be rare but it kind of happens a lot that I've seen." Jacob was sort of stuttering over his words but I just continued to listen, "Anyway, imprinting is… geez, how did I ever explain this to Bella?"

"My mom knew about this?" My frown deepened, "Jake, you're killing me. What is it?"

"It's like love at first sight but more powerful than that." Jacob blurted out, "It's the deepest, most powerful emotion I've ever felt in my life. It's a constant pull to be where the object of your imprint is, and to be with them, in whatever capacity they want you to be. It's why your parents trusted you to me instead of having a vampire run with you."

Now I was truly confused. Was he trying to tell me…?

"You imprinted on me?"

Jacob reached out and idly played with the bracelet he had given me so long ago. The Quileute promise ring.

"So the promise is what exactly?" I understood what he was trying to say without him saying a word, "That you'll take care of me forever? That you'll love me?"

"Both. Everything." Jacob smiled weakly, "I am whatever you want me to be. That's why it's been so hard Nessie. You've been fluctuating for years with your emotions. You've been able to sense that our relationship is changing and you've wanted it, just like I have, but I've been fighting it because of your age. I'm still trying to fight it but every instinct in my body screams to give you anything you want and right now, you want me."

I did want him but I hadn't said anything. How did he know?

"I can't read your mind like your dad could. I can't alter emotions the way Jasper could but I am irrevocably tied to your emotions in a way that allows me to always know what you're feeling because on a sensory level, I'm supposed to give that to you. I'm supposed to give you what you want."

"So quit fighting it." I moved forward and wove my arms around Jacob's neck. It was all suddenly so clear to me, "Quit fighting it and give me what I want."

Jacob was very careful not to move his body. Our lips were mere centimeters apart as he let his hands rest next to me on the bed. His breathing was calm and calculated. He didn't blink at all, just stared deep into my eyes.

"I'm not 11 Jake. I am 18 in every way that counts. Please?"

I didn't have time to think. His lips crashed down onto mine, passion oozing from them as his tongue flickered forward, asking for admittance to my mouth. I granted him entry and tangled my hands into his hair, deepening the kiss even more. He was still holding back, his arms still stubbornly rooted to the bed next to me, rigid with their struggle. Although this was my first kiss, it seemed to come naturally and I did everything I could think of to prolong the moment. Nothing I did worked though and eventually Jake pulled away.

We were both breathless and I watched him lean backwards, sinking to the floor but never losing eye contact with me. He smiled weakly.

"We're gonna have to do that again sometime." He said quietly.

"Now works for me." I responded, but I didn't move, somehow sensing that if I had he would have moved away.

"No, we can't." Jacob took another deep breath and let it out slowly, "If I kiss you again now I won't stop."

"I don't want…"

"Shh." Jacob was back in front of me in a split second, his finger on my lips to silence me, "Don't say it. If you tell me what you want, I don't think I'll be able to resist."

"But." Jacob's lips covered mine this time and all thoughts of what I was going to say were erased. This kiss was soft, sweet, still passionate but in a different way. It ended way too quickly.

"Grab your pajamas, go in the bathroom and change okay?" Jacob instructed, "Please? For me?"

I sighed and resigned, nodding to give him his way.

"Thank you." He placed a quick kiss against my forehead and then stood, turning away and leaning against the nearest wall. I could hear him trying to even out his breathing and his heartbeat. If I listened closely enough I could hear that his heart was beating three times faster than it should have been, just like mine.

I quickly found my pajamas in my bag and headed for the bathroom, one last wistful glance towards Jacob. He was still leaning against the wall, his back to me.

My mind went into overdrive the second the bathroom door closed behind me. Had that really just happened? Jacob Black, my best friend, kissed me? He loved me? Imprinting? I was so confused and yet everything was crystal clear. It was like I had known all along that Jacob was it for me and now that we had kissed, it all made sense. My world made sense.

When I emerged from the bathroom Jacob was already in bed, snuggled under the covers in what was supposed to have been Erin's bed for the night. He eyed me cautiously and pointed to the other bed.

"Seriously?" I raised my eyebrow at him, understanding his silent message, "After that kiss you're gonna make me sleep in a separate bed?"

"After that kiss, I should be begging Erin to switch rooms with me again. I am never going to be able to resist you anymore."

"Kind of the point." I mumbled, climbing into my bed and turning to face him. I wasn't sure where all of this newfound confidence had come from but Jacob smiled at me.

"One kiss and you're suddenly ready to jump me, huh?"

"I'm not gonna jump you Jake. I'm just saying that we _have_ slept in the same bed before, and it was completely innocent then and although it might be a little less innocent now we could still sleep in the same bed and not go crazy. Don't you think?"

"Maybe you but not me." Jacob exhaled loudly.

"You have better self control than that. Come on. Let's just try it." I pulled back my comforter and motioned him over to me, "Cuddle with me."

His eyes narrowed.

"I never should have told you that I instinctively do whatever you want."

"I admit, that's a nice card to hold." I smiled and patted the bed next to me, "Come on boy. Be a good puppy."

Jacob's mouth fell open and I laughed loudly. He threw his covers back and was in my bed next to me before I could even realize he was only wearing a tattered old pair of sweats. I curled up against his smooth chest and he wrapped one arm around my waist, cementing me to his side.

"See, it's not so bad is it?"

Jacob sighed, kissing the top of my head and reaching over to turn out the light.

"It's not bad at all." He replied, "Now go to sleep."

"Okay." I turned to look up at him, "Jake?"

"Yes?" He stared back at me.

"Will you tell me a story?"

He laughed.

"What story do you want to hear?"

"Umm…" It wouldn't be long before I fell asleep but it was always nice falling asleep to his voice, "Tell me about my parents."

"You always want to hear that story."

"Yep." Consciousness was already fading. I doubted I would even hear the first line with the way his breathing was soothing me.

"Once upon a time, in the small town of Forks…"

That night, I dreamt of Jacob kissing me. It was the best dream I had ever had.


	7. Identity: Chapter Six

_**Author's Note: OMG, I am sooooo sorry about the LONG wait for this chapter. I had a lot of change in my life and ended up taking the entire summer away from writing and when I finally did get back to writing I just... I don't know how to explain it. This chapter is shorter than I would like it to be but it is semi-fluffy and it leads to where I want it to lead so, I hope you all like it. Please, please review! I know I made you wait forever but I would still REALLY appreciate the reviews! THANKS!**_

**Chapter Six**

**Jacob POV**

Someone was watching me. I could sense her and I could smell her and before I even opened my eyes I knew she was smiling.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my eyes still closed.

"Watching you sleep." Renesmee responded.

I felt her moving and then her body curled up next to mine as her head came to rest against my chest and she took a deep breath.

"You smell amazing." She whispered.

"Like 'yum, my next meal' amazing or like 'wow, you showered today' amazing?"

Renesmee laughed, the chuckle shaking her body and ringing warmheartedly in my ears.

"Like 'today is Christmas Day and all I want is to lay here in your arms forever' amazing."

My heart skipped a beat and my eyes popped open to find her staring directly at me, a smile playing on her luscious, cherry red, full, very kissable lips. My mind immediately wandered back to the night we had spent in the hotel just a week ago and that one mind-blowing kiss we had shared. I was about to claim a repeat performance when I realized what I was about to do. It took every ounce of self-control I possessed to very slowly move away from her and out of bed.

"Where are you going?" Renesmee sat up in the bed, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.

I couldn't make myself speak to answer her. My self control would slip if I opened my mouth to talk. Instead, I reached out my hand to her, silently asking her to join me.

"Jake?" Renesmee took my hand and followed but she was clearly confused as she whispered to me, "Where are we going?"

I pulled her with me down the stairs to the colorful Christmas tree in the living room. The sun hadn't yet risen and the only light in the room were the twinkling lights from the tree which made Renesmee seem almost as sparkly as a full vampire. She was staring up at me inquisitively.

"Sit down." I whispered, wanting to make sure we didn't wake Marnie just yet, "You're gonna open your first present."

"Really?" Her eyes lit up and she grinned excitedly, "K, I'll sit."

She sat down on the floor near the tree and waited patiently while I dug out the oblong package I had wrapped just a few days before. It was buried beneath the avalanche of presents which Marnie had added to the pile overnight.

"Here you go." I sat down across from Renesmee and handed her the package, "When you open it, you can't scream though cause you'll wake up Marnie. Quiet okay?"

A mischievous grin spread across her features and she nodded, her fingers poised to rip the colorful wrapping paper away.

"Okay. Go for it."

Faster than the words were even out of my mouth Nessie had torn the paper away and was left with a large white envelope in her hands. The envelope was addressed to her and had clearly been mailed to her recently, showing the wear and tear of traveling the United States in the care of the U.S. Postal Service. In the upper left hand corner, printed in green, were the logo and name for Dartmouth College.

Renesmee's mouth fell open. She didn't speak but her eyes rose from the envelope to connect with my eyes and I could see the unshed tears sparkling. Her hand rose to my face and I saw her silent question. Was this her acceptance to Dartmouth?

"Open it." I said quietly, "I didn't open it but I imagine they don't send big, thick white envelopes to those who didn't get in."

Her smile began to grow and, as if the envelope would crumble in her hands, she very carefully and slowly eased the seal open and pulled out the enclosed paperwork.

"Dear Isabella,

Congratulations! It is with great pleasure that I inform you of your admission to Dartmouth College. You were selected from an accomplished and academically talented group of applicants who applied under the Early Decision Plan. You and your classmates are truly outstanding in your achievements, your diversity of interests, and your potential.

The faculty and staff join me in welcoming you to Dartmouth. This is a particularly exciting time at the College; the opportunity for personal involvement in all facets of your education here is significant. The College continues to be distinguished by the commitment of its faculty to combine excellence in teaching with exceptional scholarship and research. New major initiatives undertaken in the last few years, including a reaffirmation of the commitment to a diverse student body, an expansion of the financial aid program, and a major revitalization of student residential life, will each enhance Dartmouth's national leadership in liberal arts education.

I hope this early acceptance to Dartmouth will enable you to pursue the rest of your secondary school experience without the additional demands of the college admissions process. It is our expectation that you will remain fully engaged in your studies and other pursuits for the remainder of your secondary school career. As you know, under the early decision agreement you are required to withdraw applications at all other colleges and refrain from initiating any new ones. Please confirm your decision to enroll by submitting the form that is enclosed with your paper notification.

Again, congratulations on your acceptance. Please let me know if we can be of any help to you between now and next September. You can expect to receive information pertaining to the first year from the First-Year Office in February and then again in May. We look forward to welcoming you in the fall and working with you during the exciting four years ahead.

Sincerely,

Maria Laskaris

Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid"

"You're in." I whispered, too quiet for Marnie to have ever heard. Even my own eyes were watering up now, "Nessie, you did it."

Her tears were falling evenly now and she was clearly at a loss for words. Her hands shook and her lips quivered. She looked up at me and smiled.

"I'm going to Dartmouth."

"You're going to Dartmouth." I repeated, smiling back at her, "Congratulations."

She didn't raise her hand or speak the words but just staring into her tear filled eyes, I knew exactly what she was thinking. Her thoughts were with Edward and Bella and the life they should have had at Dartmouth, the life she should have had with them. Her dreams were coming true and yet, they were incomplete. She did not have her parents to rejoice with her.

"Nessie, they'd be so proud of you." I moved to sit behind her, pulling her against my chest which allowed her to rest her head on my shoulder, "Your parents loved you so much and they would be so proud that you've worked so hard at this dream. You've worked to accomplish their dream."

Her hand rose and came to rest on my cheek, showing me a vivid memory of happier times. Times she had spent with Edward and Bella, before the death and destruction came looming around us all. Times when they had read to her and taken her hunting and the times when they had just held her, instilling their love for her deep into her memory banks.

"I miss them Jake." She whispered, letting her hand fall to her side, "I want them to be here. To know that I got into Dartmouth on an Early Decision application. To tell me how proud they are. I'm tired of remembering them and knowing how much they loved me but not being able to experience it first hand. All I have are memories and I feel like that just isn't doing it justice anymore. Their love for each other and for me is going to get lost."

"Aww Nessie…" I held her tight and kissed the top of her head, "As long as you have memories Ness, it will never get lost. You'll always remember them and so will I. They're gone but they'll never be forgotten and they are with you now. They always are."

She sniffled, burying her head further into my shoulder.

"You'll never leave me right Jake?"

"Never Nessie." I promised her, "I'm always here for you."

A throat clearing from nearby interrupted our conversation and both Renesmee and I turned to see Marnie standing on the staircase, smiling over at us curiously.

"Am I interrupting?" She asked quietly.

"No." I lied, straightening up and moving from behind Renesmee to stand up, "I um, I just gave her the Dartmouth package and we were right. It was an acceptance. She's in."

"Eek!" Marnie squealed loudly and launched herself into Renesmee's arms, "Honey, I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks." Renesmee hugged Marnie back with appropriate force, "It's mostly thanks to you that I got in. I mean, if I hadn't been able to stay with you for this long, if we couldn't be honest with you and be ourselves here, I wouldn't have the opportunity to go. I'd have to be starting over again so, thank you for loving me and for loving Jake and being awesome."

"Well I couldn't love you both so much if you weren't awesome yourselves so, thank you for being great kids or well," Marnie laughed, "For being great other worldly creatures."

All three of us laughed, Renesmee wiping away the last of her tears. I could see she was forcing herself to block out the sad thoughts of her parents and focus on the day ahead of us instead.

"So now that you're up, let's open the rest of the presents huh?" Renesmee headed for the tree and grabbed a box, "Jake, this one's for you."

It took a good twenty minutes just for Nessie to sort through all the presents, creating three stacks, one for each of us to open. When all the stacks were organized we each began the process of opening each package.

"Um, this is a beautiful picture of a chair but…" Marnie held up the box which contained a picture of a reclining arm chair, "Thank you I guess?"

Renesmee laughed loudly.

"The picture isn't your present Marnie. The chair is silly. Look on the back of the picture."

Marnie pulled the picture from the box and turned it over.

"Marnie,

We promised you vampire and werewolf proof furniture and well, this was as close as we could get. We promise not to wrestle in the house anymore so we don't break anything else. Around noon on Christmas Day, your brand new furniture will be arriving. Merry Christmas.

Love, Nessie aka Belle & Jake."

"Do you like it?" Renesmee asked quietly, waiting for a reaction from Marnie, "It was supposed to be delivered yesterday but the delivery men were running late so they agreed to deliver it today instead. So we found a picture of the chair from the living room set and wrapped that for you."

"I love it." Marnie grinned widely, "Thank you so much you two. I can't wait to see it for real."

After at least twenty more minutes of opening presents, mostly clothes and practical items we could actually use from Marnie, we were finally all down to our last present. The small box sitting in front of me was carefully wrapped with a bow and a tag that said it was from both Nessie and Marnie. I was intrigued.

"Open it." Renesmee was grinning from ear to ear as she and Marnie both watched me intently.

To torture them both I slowly undid the bow and removed it from around the square box, then delicately undid the wrapping paper, sliding the white box from inside and smiling at them both as they groaned.

"Sometime this decade Jake." Renesmee complained.

I removed the lid from the box and inside was a key, clearly decorated with silver wings and the name Aston Martin stamped across them. My mouth fell open.

"Is this real?"

Both Marnie and Renesmee nodded excitedly. Renesmee was grinning from ear to ear.

"It was really hard to hide it from you but we did it. It's in the driveway now."

Together, Renesmee and I ran to the front door and out to the driveway. The sun was just rising and its rays glinted off the silver paint of the new car. MY new car. It was going to take awhile to admit that the beautiful, sleek, sophisticated car in front of me was actually mine.

"You guys seriously bought me a V12 Vantage? It's really mine?"

"It's really yours." Marnie joined us in the driveway and put one arm around each of us, "Well, of course you'll probably have to drive Renesmee around everywhere because she loves this car too."

"I really do." Renesmee laughed and smiled over at me,

"I will drive you anywhere." I promised her, "All the way to Dartmouth."

"What am I gonna do when you two go off to New Hampshire? I'm so used to having you around now!" Marnie sighed and laid her head on top of Renesmee's head.

"Don't start that now." Renesmee whined, "Then you're gonna make me cry again and I hate crying."

"Let's take the car for a drive." I interrupted them before either of them could begin to cry, knowing that was the logical next step to their conversation and wanting to avoid it, "Nessie?"

"I'm in. Where are we going?" Renesmee jogged to the passenger side and smiled, waiting for me to unlock the doors.

"Don't know yet. Marnie?" I waited to see if Marnie wanted to go but she waved us off.

"You two go. I'm gonna get breakfast started." The grin she flashed us didn't reach her eyes and I could tell it was beginning, the sadness of knowing that Renesmee and I were going to leave and there was nothing she could do now to stop us.

"We'll be back shortly." I called out to her, unlocking the doors so that Renesmee could slide into the car.

"Take your time." Marnie raised her hand in a wave, like she was already saying goodbye for the last time, "See you when you get back."

Marnie had been really good for Renesmee and I. She treated us very well and so it upset me to see her so sad, especially because the two of us leaving for Dartmouth was nothing in the realm of goodbyes. I wasn't about to remind her that she was aging while we were not and eventually, we would never be able to come back to this place and she would die while we lived on. No, I wouldn't remind her of that because that made me sad. I didn't want to imagine what it would make Marnie feel.

"I love this car." Renesmee interrupted my thoughts as we pulled off of the street we lived on and out onto the open road, "Doesn't it feel like we could just get in this car and drive forever? Like we never have to stop, just keep driving until there's nothing we haven't seen."

"Yeah." I could tell that my response should have been a little more enthusiastic but my mind was still preoccupied. The lack of enthusiasm didn't go unnoticed.

"What's wrong?" Renesmee questioned me, turning in her seat to look at me.

"Nothing." I quickly denied, not wanting her to worry about Marnie like I now was, "It's nothing Nessie. I just can't believe you guys got me this car, that's all. I'm amazed."

I could see in her eyes that she didn't believe me, but she didn't press the matter either and turned her eyes back to the road.

"It's an amazing car and I knew you would love it." Renesmee replied but her enthusiasm was no longer as potent either.

"Hey, don't do that." I let one of my hands slide off the steering wheel and found her hand, resting on the edge of her seat. I clutched her hand inside mine, "Seriously, I was just thinking about Marnie and feeling bad about leaving her here alone. That's all. Don't let it get to you."

"We could take her to Dartmouth with us." Renesmee suggested, a little of the light in her eyes returning, "I know most kids would hate having a parental figure around for college but I wouldn't mind having her there."

"We could do that." I agreed, unsure if I should really unleash the force of my worries onto her, "But what about after Dartmouth? When she's four years older and we're still the same? What about when we go back to Forks? Do we take her with us there too and if we did, can we really expect her to just keep moving her life over and over like we'll have to do for the rest of our lives because Nessie, this doesn't change anything. You're not going to get any older and if I have my way, I won't either and so we won't be able to stay in one place for very long ever. It's Dartmouth this time but then we enroll you in high school again and maybe next time it's Harvard."

"Wow." Renesmee interrupted my rant, "Where did all your pessimism come from? Weren't you just rejoicing with me an hour ago about getting into Dartmouth and now it's just what I'm doing for the next four years? Now it's just the next step? I don't get it Jake."

I knew exactly where the pessimism was coming from but I wasn't going to tell her. This was exactly what I didn't want to do today. I didn't want to burden her with my worries. I didn't want to tell her that I had seen the sadness in Marnies' eyes and it reminded me just exactly why we shouldn't be getting attached to people. People would always come and go from our lives. Attachments made leaving them much harder.

"I'm sorry." I squeezed her hand, still nestled inside mine, "I didn't mean to be so pessimistic. I'm just worried, that's all. Worried about how Marnie will handle us leaving."

She was quiet after that and I knew the wheels had begun to turn in her head. I had set in motion a train of thought that might be quite dangerous. She was now either going to try to figure out how to keep Marnie happy, which seemed impossible to me, or figure out how to break Marnie's heart with the least amount of pain, which would inevitably fail and just bring her more pain.

When I pulled the car back into the driveway in front of the house, it no longer seemed like a happy Christmas Day. Both Renesmee and I were lost in thought, all traces of the carefree spirits we had woken up with gone. The Aston Martin paled in comparison with the worries for our future.

"We'll have to make a clean break." Renesmee whispered before I could open the car door to exit, "When we leave for Dartmouth, she'll need to understand that we're not coming back."

"We could probably squeeze in a few years of visits Nessie. We don't have to break off contact when we leave."

Renesmee shook her head, the tears already glistening in her eyes.

"The longer we prolong our presence in her life, the more pain it's going to cause her when we stop coming around."

"Ness, it's going to be painful for her no matter what. Don't you want to give her as much happiness as we can for as long as we can? She deserves that much. She's been great to us."

Her head shook violently back and forth. She swung the car open, exited, and slammed it shut before I could stop her. I had only enough time to grab her before she sprinted into the house and pull her back to me, cementing her body against my chest.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." Renesmee whispered, her eyes moving to look up at me from under her long lashes.

"I don't either." I whispered back, not releasing her, "But we have to go inside now and be happy today, for Marnie's sake. And then we have to be happy for the next several months so that by the time we leave for New Hampshire, we will have a plan and no matter what we do, at least Marnie will have had good memories of us. Okay?"

"I don't know if I can just go in there and be happy Jake. Now that I realize we have to leave her?" The tears begun to glisten again and suddenly I knew exactly what I needed to do.

I needed to make her forget about her worries. Distract her with happier thoughts.

Without a word or warning, I dipped my head and brought my lips down on hers. There was no force needed as she instantly reacted, bringing her arms up around my neck, pulling herself closer to me. My worries instantly vanished, her soft body pressed against mine. Her full lips moving in time with me, deepening the kiss and filling it with passion. I could feel this plan working all too well.

I had to force myself to pull away first, coming up for air and setting her back down on the pavement. I had no idea how she had ended up off the pavement, her legs wrapped around my torso, in the first place. Apparently kisses like that erased my memory and my self control all at once.

"Okay, I think I can be happy now." Renesmee nodded slowly, a blush rising in her cheeks, "That was, um, wow."

"Yeah." I managed to let one word slip but my mind couldn't form coherent thought past that. The way she felt was still at the forefront of my thoughts and it took all my control not to pull her back to me and repeat the process.

Her grin was widening.

"Come on you. Let's go inside."

She grabbed my hand and led me inside the house, the smell of eggs and bacon immediately hitting us as we opened the door. I took several deep breaths to try to clear my head, focus on food rather than the incredibly tasty girl walking in front of me.

"Marnie, we're back!" Renesmee called out, "What are you cooking?"

"Nothing for you." Marnie met us in the hallway outside the kitchen with a glass of what appeared to be blood, "Here. Don't ask me where or how I got that but I thought you would like it. Everyone deserves to have their favorite meal on Christmas just please drink it somewhere where I can't see you, okay?"

Renesmee dropped my hand to hold the glass with two hands, raising it to her nose and taking in the scent.

"Seriously? How did you manage to get me an entire glass of human blood?" Renesmee was absolutely thrilled.

"I told you not to ask." Marnie laughed and waved her away, "You disgust me. Get out of here. Jake, you and I get to eat eggs, bacon, pancakes and/or waffles and an assortment of fresh fruit, muffins, toast. Sound good?"

"Sounds perfect." I moved past her into the kitchen so that I could take in the scent of the food even deeper, as Renesmee had with the blood. I refused to even try to guess where Marnie had gotten that blood from so I pushed the thought away and focused on the spread in front of me, "This looks amazing Marnie. Thank you."

"You're welcome." She grinned at me and then flipped the pancakes as she continued to cook, "I just want you guys to have a great Christmas. It's the first for the three of us together and I wanted to make sure it was perfect."

I smiled back at her. She really was a great person. She cared about both Renesmee and I, probably more than we deserved. She was the mother that neither Renesmee or I had ever really had, since mine had also died when I was young. My heart ached again thinking about having to leave her for good in the not so distant future. I immediately pushed that to the back of my mind and abandoned my train of thought. She wanted a perfect Christmas so I would concentrate on making sure she got that, first and foremost.

And it was a perfect Christmas. After breakfast we all went our separate ways to shower and dress for the day. We were just deciding how to proceed with the day when the delivery men showed with all of the furniture we had purchased for Marnie. She cried for an hour because she loved it so much.

In the afternoon, Erin and Russ' families all joined us at our house, starting an impromptu potluck by bringing their dinners to our house so we could all be together. Erin's family was more traditional with turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. Russ's family erred to the non-traditional side, bringing lasagna, homemade breadsticks and an entire Italian feast. By the time dinner was over, everyone, except for Renesmee who did her best to fake eating a little of everything, was stuffed.

It was just getting dark outside as all of us were gathered in the living room laughing, telling stories and having a good time. Renesmee watched me from across the room, where she sat perched on the edge of the couch next to Erin who was busy telling a very animated story about the Christmas her dog had eaten the entire meal her mother had prepared. My eyes locked with Renesmee's and she motioned very slightly with her head, so slightly no one else would have seen it, for me to follow her to the front door.

Everyone was so engrossed in Erin's tale that they didn't seem to take notice when Renesmee and I slipped away.

The first words out of her mouth as soon as we were outside were "thank you."

"For what?" I responded, smiling down at her as we both watched the sunset in the distance.

"For being amazing and for distracting me earlier so that I wasn't focused on the negative things all day." She raised one eyebrow, "Yes, I knew you were just trying to distract me with that kiss but it worked and I am definitely not complaining."

At that, we both laughed.

"It's been a great Christmas." Renesmee wound her fingers through mine and leaned against my side with a sigh, "And I don't want to go back to thinking about negative things or the goodbyes we face in the future, but I did just want to let you know that, while it will be hard to say goodbye to Marnie and Erin and Russ and to the people that we meet in the future who we will inevitably have to leave, as long as you and I are together, it's gonna be worth it you know? I can live through goodbyes with everyone else, but I can't ever lose you Jake. That would be too much to take, on top of everything else."

I knew exactly what she meant and I felt the same way. I could lose everything else in the world as long as I still had her. She was my world.

"You'll never lose me Nessie." I promised, "I'm with you always."

She snuggled closer to my side and I could feel her smiling without even looking at her.

"Merry Christmas Jake." She whispered, the sun disappearing over the horizon.

"Merry Christmas Nessie."


	8. Identity: Chapter Seven

_**Author's Note: OMG, it's been a VERY long time since I updated. I am SOOOOOO sorry! Um, I've been working on this update for awhile but I finally like it and I've decided to post it. Keep in mind it is unbeta'd so I'm not sure how good it actually is but it moves the story in the direction I want it to go so I hope you all like. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and to those of you who PM'd me asking for updates, thank you for bugging me to keep writing cause without all of you I may have lost my inspiration. Read on! Enjoy!  
**_

**Chapter Seven**

**Renesmee POV**

After Christmas, time flew by in a blur. January first, then February followed by March and before I knew it April was staring me in the face and with it, prom.

I was beginning to think that asking Jacob to prom had been a bad idea. Attending prom at all was a bad idea. It loomed ominously for some reason as if the world might end in that one night. I had no real reason to believe that it would, as far as I knew the things that could end the world were no closer to me than they had been a few months ago and yet, as the days passed the feeling of dread grew in the pit of my stomach.

"I changed my mind." I tossed a multi-hued satin gown across the dressing room where it landed resolutely on the floor, "I'm not going to prom."

"You are going to prom so stop being ridiculous." Erin sighed, waiting just outside the dressing room door, "Put on the next dress so I can see it. We are going to find one today. I can feel it."

"Having any luck?" One of the sales girls at the boutique we were currently in approached Erin who groaned.

"She's pickier than anyone I've ever known to be honest. I doubt anything is going to be as perfect as she wants it to be."

"It's not about the dress." I called out to them both as I pulled the next gown over my torso, immediately deciding that it was all wrong for me and slipping it back off, "I just have a bad feeling about this whole prom thing."

"Just nerves." The sales girl said unhelpfully, "Girls come in here all the time with that feeling. You have a date?"

"Yes." I narrowed my eyes at my reflection in the mirror, "My best friend in the entire world and quite possibly the only person I will ever love. I've known him forever."

I could here the sales girl get the look which would have said "naïve, stupid girl" but she had no idea. Jake and I were meant to be together and prom would be our first official outing as a sort of couple and not a single dress was right for that kind of date. I mean, we hadn't discussed anything but we had been kissing a lot and that had to mean something. Prom wasn't just another "friends hanging out" event.

"Isabella, put on a dress and get out here please." Erin never used my full name. She must be serious.

I rolled my eyes but grabbed the next dress from it's hanger and slipped it on. It was black with large white polka dots, a black corset cinched under my bust and crisscrossing straps across my back. I hated it immediately but Erin wanted to see something so I opened the door and stepped forward.

"That's beautiful." The sales girl commented first, smiling at me for my reaction.

I glared at her.

"It looks like polka dots threw up on me. The corset is uncomfortable and the straps impractical. I hate it." I turned to look at Erin, daring her to object but she just shrugged.

"Next." She sighed.

I tried on and declined the next 10 dresses handed to me. They came into the dressing room and exited the dressing room faster than the sales girl could even pull them off the rack. It was, of course, the very last dress of the very last group of dresses she could offer me when I finally found something that was promising.

The ruby red halter gown fit every curve of my body. The choker style neckband was intricately beaded into the back of the gown, creating a band of beads vertically down my spine and then horizontally across the small of my back, connecting there with the satin fabric of the dress. Matching beading went across the front of the dress at my waistline and from there the floor length fabric flowed effortlessly.

When I stepped out from the dressing room, everyone in the boutique stopped breathing.

"Wow Izzy." Erin finally exhaled and spoke again, "That dress is…"

"Perfect." The sales girl finished Erin's sentence.

"I don't know about perfect but it has potential." I actually liked it a lot more than I wanted to let on. I turned to look in the full length mirror again. The deep red of the dress set off my alabaster skin nicely. My vampire glow seemed to make the dress sparkle even more, "Can we get rid of the train? I think it's too much fabric."

"Yeah of course."

After a few more minor alteration suggestions the sales girl grinned.

"So this is the one?"

I nodded.

"This is the one."

"Finally!" Erin sighed loudly, falling into the nearest chair dramatically, "I thought we'd never find your dress!"

"You and me both." I rolled my eyes at her and disappeared back into the dressing room, slipping out of the dress and back into my regular clothes.

When I reappeared I handed the dress to the sales girl and then after several minutes of finalizing alterations and payment, Erin and I left the store. She was grinning from ear to ear. Despite the dress being found, I was still unsure of this whole thing.

"Would you at least try to be happy?" Erin groaned, "You found the most beautiful perfect dress ever. You have the most amazing gorgeous date ever. You are young and hot and so melodramatic. What is your issue?"

"I don't know Erin." I smiled over at her weakly when she hooked her arm through mine as we walked down the street, "There's just something off about this whole experience. Maybe it's just that it marks the beginning of the end for us you know? First prom, then the rest of the senior activities followed by graduation and then we all split up and go to different colleges and life as we know it ends."

"But college life begins!" Erin exclaimed happily, "You are so pessimistic. We're gonna love college and it's not like we will never see each other. We'll come home for holidays. You can come visit me and Russ, we'll come visit you and Jake. Sweetie, this is not the end. It's the beginning."

I couldn't explain to her that it wouldn't be like that. Yes, I was looking forward to Dartmouth but it had hit me at Christmas that after Dartmouth there would be more of the same. More moving, more school, more beginnings and more ends but always a never-ending cycle of sameness. I wasn't getting any older. Immortal. Always continuing but never changing.

"Alright, that's it." Erin suddenly yanked me to our right and in through the open door of the ice cream shop without warning, "You are in desperate need of a triple scoop chocolate caramel ice cream overload because you have got to snap out of this. We still have shoes and accessories to shop for and I am not hanging out with you if you're gonna be down all day. Ice cream cures everything and you will be happy do you understand me?"

Ice cream certainly wasn't going to do it but I smiled anyway and nodded.

"See? Happy." I stated through my fake smile, "No ice cream needed."

"Ice cream needed." Erin didn't look impressed as she turned to the guy behind the counter, "Two waffle cones both with a triple scoop. One scoop triple chocolate, one scoop dulce de leche, one scoop peanut butter."

None of that sounded appetizing but there was no way of getting out of it now. Erin was not going to take no for an answer and by the way the guy behind the counter was staring at her, my guess was that our cones were going to be absolutely overflowing with melty, chocolate caramel peanut buttery ickyness. Sometimes I wished to be normal so I could enjoy this stuff, but then I looked at the calories on a scoop of this stuff and remembered how obsessive normal girls got about their bodies and smiled because I did not have to worry about that. I wasn't even sure I was able to gain weight if I tried actually. It was kind of nice.

"Don't you go to Belgrade High?" Erin decided to flirt as our already melting cones made their way over the counter.

"Yeah. We have economics together." He replied with a cheesy grin.

"Oh cool, so you know her boyfriend Russell then too. He's in that class." I interrupted, grabbing my cone from Erin's hand and licking the ice cream, trying not to make a face at the coolness of it against my tongue.

The glare Erin shot me was priceless and this time I grinned for real.

"Thanks for the ice cream Erin. I'm gonna wait outside."

I laughed at my own antics as I stood outside the ice cream shop, leaning against the window and watching the rest of the town function around me. Despite the bad taste it left in my mouth, and the weird texture of the melting liquid, the ice cream was actually making me feel better. The day was suddenly brighter. My outlook on prom and life in general was just a little bit sunnier. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. After all, an eternity with Jacob wasn't so bad. As long as I had him, I could handle it, even if I had to say goodbye to a million other people. I just had to keep reminding myself of that one positive point on the horizon.

"You are so not funny." Erin exclaimed as she joined me on the sidewalk, "Seriously, it wasn't like I was going to make out with the guy. You HAD to mention Russell?"

"The guy was ogling you Erin." I laughed as we headed down the sidewalk again, now with gigantic ice cream cones in our hands, "His eyes never left your chest and it doesn't matter if you were going to make out with him or not. Russell would thank me."

"I definitely would." Russell suddenly made an appearance behind us, throwing his arms over both our shoulders, "What would I thank you for?"

"Shutting down the advances of the guy serving us ice cream. He was staring at Erin's boobs like they would be good in an ice cream cone so I kindly reminded him that she has a boyfriend."

"Ah yes, I do thank you." Russell playfully kissed my cheek and then fell back a couple steps and moved to Erin's other side, "So, how is shopping going today? Did you finally find your dress Iz?"

"I did. It just has a few alterations to go through and it will be ready for me to pick up next Tuesday. Until then we still have to find shoes and accessories and…"

"And something sexy for you to wear under that dress so that when Jake takes you out of it he'll be knocked to his knees." Erin giggled.

My cheeks blushed ridiculously red and Russell began to laugh.

"That's so wrong Erin." Russell commented for me, "You shouldn't embarrass her like that. You know she's not ready to have sex with Jacob."

"Yes she is." Erin argued, "She just doesn't know it yet and I know Jake wants it. I've seen the way he looks at her."

"Stop it." I commanded, "That is so horrible. We will not discuss my sex life or lack of it. Seriously."

I hated when she got like this. Her mind focused on sex and all of a sudden that was what we were talking about for the rest of the day. The right positions for my first time. What I should wear. The correct way to put on a condom. Things we could do if we weren't really ready for the actual sex but still wanted to be intimate.

It was even worse when Russell was around because then I had to have the constant reminder that she was doing these things with him. Not that Russell was ugly but he definitely was not who I wanted to imagine naked.

"Whatever." Erin surprisingly let the subject go easily, "Speaking of Jake. Where is he today?"

"He is helping Marnie around the house today. Fixing things. Cleaning the gutters. Mowing the lawn. Stupid stuff." I shrugged, "Normal boring things."

"We should rescue him. Let's go to the movies tonight. Russ, you in?" Erin turned to her boyfriend and he nodded easily, "Izzy?"

If the movies would keep me in this better, upbeat, non-pessimistic mood, I was in. I shrugged and nodded as Russell had, pulling out my cell phone to call Jake.

"Jacob's castle, what's your hassle?" Jacob answered easily on the second ring.

I grinned.

"Erin wants us to go to the movies with her and Russ tonight. You in?" I knew he knew who it was so there was no need to tell him.

"That depends. What are we watching?"

"If Erin has her way, and we all know she will, it will be some stupid sappy romantic comedy that will make us want to claw our eyes out."

"Okay." Jacob laughed, "I'm in. Where are you?"

"We are walking downtown towards Olivia's Boutique. We found my dress and ordered the alterations for it then stopped at the ice cream shop. We got ice cream and then Russell joined us randomly and now we're walking."

"You're eating ice cream?" I could hear Jacob's lopsided grin.

"Shut up. Erin forced me." I replied and Erin frowned at me, not understanding.

"Okay, well call me when you know what time the movie is and I'll meet you there okay?"

"Okay and Jake?"

"Yes?"

"My dress is red so make sure to coordinate accordingly."

His resounding laugh echoed loudly so I was sure that Russell and Erin heard it too. They both giggled a little.

"Yes ma'am." Jacob said happily, "See you later."

"See you later."

The rest of the shopping trip went effortlessly and it was around 8:00PM when we finally met Jacob at the movies. Erin did get her way and we watched the newest Kate Hudson mindless romantic comedy. It was fine except for when I could see Erin and Russell making out from the corner of my eye. It wouldn't have been so bad except coupled with my super hearing, which made amplified their noise, and the making out on screen, I was surrounded.

With a sigh I raised my hand to Jacob's cheek and silently showed him my disgust. He laughed quietly and then pulled my hand down, cradling it in his own. His free hand reached over me and turned my head to look at him before he leaned over and captured my lips. His fingers caressed the back of my neck as our lips moved effortlessly together.

Alright, I could admit this making out thing wasn't so bad.

"Go Izzy. Go Izzy." Erin quietly cheered, ruining the moment.

With a groan I pulled away from Jacob and straightened in my chair, turning to glare at my human best friend. Leave it to Erin to kill the mood despite the fact that I had quietly let her shove her tongue down Russell's throat for the past half hour without a single interruption.

She giggled and went back to watching the movie. I rolled my eyes and leaned my head against Jake's shoulder.

At the end of the movie I was still irritated with Erin for ruining my moment so we said goodbye quickly and then I followed Jacob to his car. It was pretty silent on the car ride home as I was lost in my thoughts.

I shouldn't have been so irritated with Erin for interrupting a kiss. It wasn't like the kiss was going to lead to anything else, especially in the movie theater. Of course, even if we had been at home the kiss wouldn't have led to anything else. Jacob claimed I had this power over him to get what I wanted because he had imprinted on me but I was beginning to think that was a lie. It seemed the longer we continued to kiss, the less I got what I wanted.

Maybe that was what was bugging me. More than prom. More than shopping. More than Erin's stupid interruptions and antics. Maybe I was just being impatient. For a girl with eternity stretched ahead of her, time seemed to move impossibly fast and yet annoyingly slow all at the same time. I wanted Jacob and I to take our relationship to the next level now. He seemed to have other ideas.

"What are you thinking about?" Jacob interrupted my thoughts as we rounded the corner onto our street.

"Prom." It wasn't a complete lie. Prom had very vaguely been part of my thoughts.

"Are you excited?" He asked.

"No." This time I was 100% honest, "I have this ominous feeling about it. Like something bad is going to happen."

Jacob's eyebrows rose.

"Maybe we shouldn't go."

My heart stopped. Did he not want to go with me? Was that why he was suggesting we forgo the prom? Was there a way to un-imprint? Maybe he was no longer freakishly connected to me in his wolfy way.

"Stop that." Jacob reached over and smoothed my wrinkled forehead and answered my unspoken worries, "It's not that I don't want to go with you. I'm just saying, if you feel like it's going to be bad maybe we should stick with that feeling. We've always trusted our instincts and I would hate to go against them this time and something go wrong."

Oh. That made sense. Trusting my instincts. He trusted me to want to trust my instincts. It wasn't that he had changed his mind about going with me. Now I felt stupid.

"No, I want to go Jake. High school feels real this time and I want to complete it the right way. I just… I'm worrying about nothing. Even the sales girl at the dress shop said the same thing. All girls get nervous before their first prom. These are just natural jitters."

Jacob didn't look convinced.

"Okay, if you say so."

Once inside we almost immediately went to bed. I had school the next day and Jacob had been busy lately making plans for our upcoming residence at Dartmouth. This was part of the time moving impossibly fast worry I had. Dartmouth was just four months away. I wasn't sure I was ready but I couldn't voice that worry to anyone else. Everyone else was just excited that I had gotten in and that I had gotten my dream. Worry about actually attending now would seem silly.

As usual, the next few weeks raced by. Jake continued plans for our move. I continued to attend school. My dress was finished and I was able to pick it up and subsequently try it on multiple times, always by myself, always critiquing it hopelessly, always with the same uncertainty. Jacob had his tux. Marnie had bought a new camera. We were prepared for the day but that didn't change a thing. When the day actually arrived, I didn't feel ready. The ominous feeling loomed over me and as minutes ticked by, I became more and more anxious.

"You look amazing." Marnie assured me as she placed the final bobby pin in my carefully sculpted curls.

"Thanks." I took a deep breath to steady myself. As Marnie took a deep breath I was able to look at myself in the full length mirror and I sighed. I did look amazing. My curls were perfectly sculpted with just a few pinned back at the top of my head. My dress clung to every curve and flowed effortlessly in all the right places. Three inch heels dyed to perfectly match my dress would make me slightly taller, albeit not even close to Jacob's 6'7.

Everything was perfect so why was I still so anxious?

"Come on. Jake's waiting downstairs. You are going to be late." Marnie stood at my bedroom door, grinning at me and beckoning me forward, "Hurry up slowpoke."

I grabbed my clutch from my desk and took the few steps to the door, then the few steps down the hallway and stopped at the top of the stairs. Never had the staircase seemed so steep before. The banister seemed long, as if the staircase went on forever. My eyes trailed the length of it until finally I found what I was looking for. Jacob.

He stood at the bottom of the stairs, exactly as if this scene was drafted from a movie. His long hair was pulled into a perfect ponytail tied at the base of his neck. His black tux was perfectly tailored to fit his gigantic frame, the silky black tie tucked expertly into his buttoned jacket as he held one single red rose in his hand. When our eyes connected, gliding down the stairs towards him seemed like the most effortless motion I could have exerted. I was by his side in an instant.

"Wow." Jacob's mouth formed an O as he took in my appearance, "You are easily the most beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes on."

"That's impossible." I replied, pretending to straighten his tie so that I could hide my blush, "You looked in the mirror today right?"

Jacob laughed loudly and placed his finger under my chin so I was looking in his eyes again.

"Yes, I did look in the mirror and again, YOU are easily the most beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes on."

I grinned widely and blushed brighter. There didn't seem to be words that I could form in response.

"Pictures." Marnie insisted, joining us at the base of the stairs, camera in hand as she shooed us towards her studio in the back of the house "Come on now. You promised I could have these."

Marnie was the best at any form of art she tried so it was only natural for us to agree to allow her to photograph us on prom night. The pictures would be fabulous no doubt but when we had agreed, we didn't realize she was going to go to such extreme measures.

The art studio, which took up the entire back half of the downstairs level of the house, was normally an utter disaster zone. Paints, canvas, papier-mâché, clay, brushes and all sorts of art supplies strewn in every corner. But, it seemed there was indeed a real room underneath all the mess because she had cleaned it up for this photo shoot. Lights had been set up. Numerous sets created. What appeared to be real trees growing from large clay pots had appeared from nowhere as well as balloons and streamers and glittering fairy lights. The photo shoot alone was going to take us all night from the looks of it.

"Don't ogle my sets like that." Marnie snapped at me before I could comment, "It won't take long. Just a few pictures and then you two can go, I promise."

"Me? Ogle? Never." I laughed and pulled Jacob to the first set Marnie motioned to, where we were surrounded with trees, both of us standing there, unsure what to do.

"Pose." Marnie instructed, "Put your arms around her or something Jake. Look happy."

Photographer yes but art director, apparently no. Marnie had no constructive instructions to give us as we blindly posed among her sets. It was easy enough though, once we got into it, because when Jacob and I really connected, it was like everything else no longer existed. Our eyes met and it didn't matter that we were being photographed. If Marnie could convey that in the image then she was sure to have gotten at least a few good shots.

"Okay." Marnie grinned widely when she was done, "Now you can go."

"Really? Are you sure?" I questioned her sarcastically.

"Get out of here smart ass." She swatted Jacob and I back down the hallway towards the front door, "Have fun and be safe. Don't get into too much trouble."

"We'll be fine Marnie." Jacob assured her as he opened the front door for me to step out into the cool spring night, "Don't wait up. We'll see you tomorrow."

I heard Marnie sigh, as if she really was watching her baby girl go off to prom and she couldn't stand the idea of her daughter growing up. The sigh was what did it. Tears welled up in my eyes and Jacob closed the door behind us.

"We can't leave her here Jake." I insisted, turning to him immediately.

"What?" Jacob frowned at me and back towards the house, "It's prom Nessie. I don't think she really wants to go…"

"No." I interrupted him, wiping at the tears threatening to ruin my makeup, "When we leave for Dartmouth. We can't leave her here. I won't do it."

Jacob sighed but his was filled with frustration and sadness.

"I don't want to do it any more than you do Ness but we can't really take her with us. We talked about this already."

"Yeah, at Christmas, but we have a few months still left and I think we should come up with a better plan. We cannot just leave her here Jacob. She'll be sad and she'll miss us and honestly, I'll miss her too and I know you will so come on! Help me think of a new plan!"

Jacob groaned.

"Tonight is not the night for this." He said calmly, but I could tell this conversation was upsetting him.

"Prom is just one night." I reached forward and gently laid my hand against his cheek, showing him the vision I perceived of Marnie, lost and alone in this house with us gone away for good, "She will miss us for the rest of her life."

The ominous feeling I had felt for months now was finally receding and I realized it was always about Marnie. I didn't want to leave her here. It felt too final, for us and for her. I would not just leave her here, alone.

"Okay, okay." Jacob grabbed my wrist, forcefully but with enough care not to hurt me, pulling my hand away from his face, "Can we just not talk about this tonight please? We're gonna be late."

"Late doesn't matter Jake. It's just prom. I don't want to leave her."

Jacob sighed, loudly. My wrist was still secure in his hand and his eyes fell from my face to our hands. He released my wrist but quickly entwined our fingers, lifting them to his lips and placing a light kiss on each of my knuckles.

"We're gonna figure something out Ness. I promise. We won't leave her."

His reassurance was enough to ease the panic I felt. He never made a promise he wouldn't keep and I trusted him not to start breaking promises now.

"Let's go to prom." He said quietly, "And talk about this later?"

I smiled and nodded, allowing him to guide me to his Aston Martin so that we could head off to the school. The ride itself was very quiet, both of us encompassed in our own thoughts. I could practically hear the wheels in his head turning and that was hard to do since my own wheels were working overtime. Luckily, school wasn't far and so we didn't have too much time to think before we had arrived and parked the car so we could head into the gymnasium.

"Hey Izzy!"

Students I was sure I had never actually met waived to me as Jake and I made our way inside and I politely waved back. One of the surreal parts of being Student Body President was that everyone knew me so I always felt like I was being watched.

Not very surprising tonight though was that all eyes were not on me at all but rather the stunning man at my side, his arm very securely wrapped around my waist as we weaved through my fellow students.

"Everyone's staring at you." I whispered very quietly so no one around us could hear.

"I doubt they even see me. They're all staring at you." Jacob whispered back, glancing down at me with a quick wink and smile.

I rolled my eyes and laughed loudly as we reached the table where Erin and Russell were already sitting.

"Izzy, you look amazing!" Erin squealed, rushing to my side, "Oh my God, seriously. I'm speechless. This dress looks even more fantastic now then the day you bought it and look at your shoes. They're perfectly dyed to match. Ugh, and your skin is so perfect."

"Funny how when she's speechless she just keeps talking huh?" Russell teased her, "You do look amazing though Iz. Jake, you better make sure you hold onto her tight tonight. There's about 100 guys here hoping to whisk her away from you."

"I'd like to see them try." I laughed harder, looking up at Jacob who grinned back at me, "Dance with me Jake?"

"My pleasure."

It wasn't that I didn't want to hang out with Erin and Russell but the moment we had met them at the table and Erin was gushing over me, the panic had returned. We'd be leaving them in a few months too and that, unlike Marnie, I could do nothing about. There was no way to keep Erin and Russell in my life and that saddened me. It was easier to forget my panicky state when I was securely wrapped in Jacob's arms, dancing amidst the other couples on the floor.

We didn't talk because there wasn't much to say. I didn't want to be lost in my own thoughts either so I focused on listening to what the kids around us were saying. If I really concentrated I could hear the words of almost every person in the room, individually and at the same time which was a very surreal feeling.

Most of the students in the room were gossiping. Who was going to have sex tonight, who would be prom king and queen, who spiked the punch, if the chaperones would catch the person who spiked the punch and the normal musings of teenage boys and girls at prom. I smiled at how carefree they all were.

"What are you smiling about?" Jacob asked, tilting my head up so he could look into my eyes.

"I'm eavesdropping on everyone in the room. It's quite interesting." I replied.

He laughed.

"I was doing the same thing."

I laughed with him.

We probably would have continued to laugh carelessly but then we both heard it. No one else in the room would have noticed anything at all. There would be no possible way for them to hear what we heard. To smell what we were now smelling. To everyone else in the room the only thing that would have looked out of place is that both Jacob and I had stopped swaying to the music.

"You heard it too." My voice was so low that it couldn't even be described as a whisper, "You smell it?"

Jacob nodded slowly and scanned the room inconspicuously, as if he were just looking from someone he knew in the crowd.

"Vampire." Even with super hearing I barely heard the word he uttered and then we were in action.

Jacob grabbed my hand and pulled me from the dance floor. We were headed out the back door before I could even look around to find Erin and Russell. Jacob pulled me into the nearest unlocked classroom and abruptly sat me down in the nearest chair.

"Stay here." He commanded. It wasn't a request. His eyes stared directly into my soul as he waited for my confirmation that I wouldn't move.

"No way." I shook my head no, "I'm not letting you go out there alone and I'm not leaving Erin and Russell unprotected in the main building with all those other kids. If there's a vampire here there's only two possible reasons. One, they are looking for me or two, they're hungry. Neither is good for all the humans in the gym."

"Stay here Renesmee. I'm serious. I will take care of this but I have to act now and if I'm distracted thinking you're gonna try to be a hero I could get hurt. You HAVE to stay here. Got it?"

"But Jake."

"Right here in this chair Ness. I'm not kidding."

He was gone before I could protest any more. The door slammed shut behind his retreating form and it was only a split second longer before I disobeyed his order. I was out of my seat and rushing out the door, hoping that Jacob wouldn't be too mad at me for not listening.

My mind was racing as I tried to walk normally back to the gym. There were students and teachers and chaperones milling about the campus and I didn't want to draw attention, although that was kind of stupid considering the kind of attention a gigantic wolf was going to draw. I was positive Jacob had already fazed to his animal form.

Who was the vampire who would so stupidly wander onto a high school campus during prom? Why were they here? Were they after me or did they just happen to stumble across the wrong place at the wrong time?

"I know you." The voice sounded loud to me and although the words could have been spoken to anyone outside somehow I knew they were directed at me.

Instinctively I turned in the direction they had come from and I saw her. An impossibly beautiful, incredibly pale tall blonde vampire standing more than 50 yards away. I could see her and I knew immediately what she was but from this distance, even my enhanced vision couldn't make out her details.

"Excuse me?" I dared to whisper back, knowing she would hear me.

"I know you." She was at my side in an instant, her vampire speed incredible even to me, "But it can't really be you can it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I gulped quietly, not afraid but yet extremely nervous. I hadn't been around vampires since I was a baby and never without my family or Jacob by my side.

"But it must be." She continued to muse, cocking her head to the side to take me in completely, "You're not scared of me. You know exactly what I am yet you're not afraid. You're heart beats, blood courses through your veins but you smell different. You're not fully human."

She sniffed me and I instinctively took a deep breath at the same time.

"It's impossible." She took a step back from me and narrowed her eyes, "You're supposed to be dead."

Those words caught my attention. My eyes narrowed and I dared to look directly into her blood red irises.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"My name is Bonnie." Her eyes softened and she moved forward again, coming even closer to me but this time in a completely inquisitive manner, "You wouldn't know me. We've never met and yet, I know you. You're Renesmee Cullen."

The wind whipped around us and brought the strong scent of Jacob with it. The panic from earlier set in with a vengeance. This vampire knew me and I needed to know how but if Jacob saw her standing near me he wouldn't hesitate for a second.

"Jacob." I looked around, hoping to see him before he saw her, "Jacob, don't kill her. If you can hear me, don't kill her."

Bonnie's blonde hair flew in the wind around us and she hissed, her lips curling around her teeth as she crouched into a fighting stance. I still couldn't see Jacob but I had a feeling even if I could, it would have been too late.

It all happened in an instant. Jacob sprang from nowhere and within a fraction of a second he and Bonnie had raced off into the wilderness and my chance was gone. I knew he would catch her and she wouldn't survive the night and that meant I would never know how she knew me or why she thought I was supposed to be dead. My answers had just run off into the darkness.

"Izzy, what are you doing out here?" Erin was standing at the edge of the gymnasium building, beckoning to me, "Where's Jake?"

I stared off into the woods where Jacob and the blonde vampire named Bonnie had disappeared. A wistful sigh escaped my lips but I already knew nothing would make a difference. All I could do now was make sure Erin didn't think something was up.

"Sorry Erin." I headed over to join her and we linked arms to walk back inside together, "Jake and I came out to get some fresh air and he realized he forgot something at home so he was gonna run back and get it really quick."

"Oh." Erin smiled, "Well come inside weirdo. You don't know what crazy people are lurking outside in the darkness."

She had no idea how right she was. With one last glance towards the woods, I headed back inside with Erin.

So much for a normal prom.


	9. Identity: Chapter Eight

_**Author's Note: Okay, there's good news and bad news. Good news first... LOOK! I didn't take forever to update! Bad news... well, let's just say I apologize for this chapter ahead of time. Read on! Enjoy! AND of course, thank you to all of you who reviewed the last chapter! :)**_

**Chapter Eight**

**Jacob POV**

"You're kidding me right?" I slammed the front door of the house as Renesmee and I stormed inside, the suit jacket of my tuxedo immediately thrown across the room as I turned to face the very argumentative girl standing directly behind me, "I gave you one task. ONE! Stay in one spot and that was all you had to do and you couldn't do it and then when I find you face to face with a vampire I'm supposed to listen to you when you say not to kill her?"

"Jacob, she knew me. She knew Renesmee Cullen. Not Isabella Jasper but Renesmee Cullen!" Renesmee yelled back at me, not budging an inch despite me towering over her in what would usually be a menacing stance for me, "You didn't even give her a chance to explain."

"All the more reason to kill her Renesmee. She knew you! She could have been after you. She was probably sent to kill you. Have you forgotten when we were running for our lives? Have you forgotten WHY we were running for our lives for so long?"

"What's going on?" Marnie stood at the top of the staircase, rubbing her eyes sleepily and yawning, "Why are you guys arguing?"

We both paused. Renesmee and I had been arguing from almost the second we left prom to this very moment but we both knew that it was a risk to tell Marnie the real reason. Up until this point, knowing our secret hadn't put Marnie in any real danger. Now, she very well could be and I wasn't sure how much she should know.

"Well? You woke me up. Now you better explain." Marnie descended the stairs and stood near us, waiting for an answer.

Renesmee put her hand to my cheek and made it clear she didn't want Marnie to know the truth. It would worry her too much.

"Sorry we woke you up Marnie." I apologized calmly, "We were just arguing about normal relationship stuff. Some girl hit on me at prom and it upset Nessie and I didn't think she had any reason to be jealous so I made a joke about it and, it was stupid. We shouldn't have been so careless as to be yelling when we came home."

Marnie narrowed her eyes at me.

"Is that the truth or is that what she told you to say with her little vision?" Marnie eyed Renesmee carefully, watching her hand where it had fallen back to her side, "I specifically heard something about running for your lives. What's really going on guys? Did something happen? Should I be worried?"

Renesmee lifted her hand and Marnie snapped.

"Don't even think about it young lady. Raise that hand to his face and I will find a way to cut it off." She threatened, "Now tell me the truth, one of you, before I really start to worry."

Renesmee looked up at me woefully, shaking her head, making it 100% clear that she wasn't going to tell Marnie the truth and she didn't want me to either.

My instincts always said to do what Renesmee wanted. Going against them was physically and emotionally painful. It was why it was so frustrating to me that she was arguing with me over going after that vampire tonight. Didn't she know I wanted to do what she wanted? I wanted to listen when she asked me not to kill the vampire. The problem was that I had gotten good at controlling my insatiable desire to give Renesmee what she wanted. I was good at not giving her what she wanted when it was better for her if I didn't. I hated being good at going against her wishes which is why I hated myself when I turned to Marnie and started talking.

"There was a vampire at prom."

"There was a what?" Marnie's mouth fell open, "A real vampire?"

I nodded and risked a glance at Renesmee. I could feel the anger rolling off of her towards me. If she wasn't mad enough at me for attacking what she considered to be a harmless vampire, she was certainly livid now.

"The real human bloodsucking type, yeah." I confirmed Marnie's fear and subsequently caught her when she almost fainted.

I carried Marnie into the living room and placed her gently onto the couch. Renesmee was pacing, still without a word. I watched them both. Marnie sitting on the couch, ghostly pale and unmoving while Renesmee was a frenzy of silent movement.

"Somebody other than me say something please?" I pleaded with them both.

"Why was there a vampire at prom?" Marnie asked immediately, gulping back her inherent fear.

"I think she was there for Nessie. She knew Nessie."

"You don't know she was there for me!" Renesmee exploded finally, "She knew who I was but she didn't in the least seem interested in killing me! She said I was supposed to be dead already, as if she was curious how I was alive. You could have given her the chance to explain!"

"Yes, let's just let the curious vampire explain herself before she tries to kill you!" I yelled back, losing a bit of my temper before reigning it back in with a controlled breath, "I was not going to give her the chance to try to kill you or anyone else at that school for that matter."

"We don't know why she was here. We don't know what she was after. We don't know anything about her Jacob and maybe, just maybe, if you had given her 2 seconds before you chased her off into the woods we would at least know SOMETHING!" Renesmee threw her hands up and threw her head back as she screamed, "You are so frustrating sometimes!"

"Let's not be too loud okay? We do have neighbors." Marnie reminded us.

For a second, the way Renesmee glared at Marnie, I wasn't sure if I was going to need to protect another human from vampire fangs tonight. Her eyes flashed and then the anger subsided and she went back to pacing, muttering only a quick "sorry Marnie" before going back to her previous silence.

"So, okay." Marnie took a deep breath, some of the color coming back into her cheeks now, "There was a vampire at prom. She knew Renesmee but you don't know how or why. You chased her into the woods and did what with her? Killed her?"

This was the most frustrating question of all that had been asked of me so far. I had chased that blonde blood sucker halfway to Canada. I had every intention of killing her but the pain of going against Renesmee's wishes, and being farther and farther away from her as I ran, had been too much. I was so good at going against her wishes almost every single day, never giving her what she really wanted… me. I was so practiced at it but this time, it hurt more and more as I chased the bloodsucker and eventually it became too much. I had to turn back and let her get away so I could go back to Renesmee.

"No. I didn't kill her." I sighed, "I chased her and eventually just let her go. I never caught up to her."

Renesmee stopped pacing.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" She asked calmly.

"Because it doesn't matter." I replied just as calmly, "I mean, it does matter but not in the way you want it to. I didn't kill her Ness. You know what that means right?"

Our eyes connected and I could see her thinking. Had this been a few years earlier there wouldn't have been a second of hesitation. A vampire anywhere near us and we wouldn't have even bothered to come back to this house. We would have been out of town faster than anyone would have been able to miss us. But things were different now and it was taking Renesmee time to even remember what the protocol for a situation like this was.

The pain that flashed across her face when she finally realized what I was talking about almost broke my heart.

"No." She argued immediately, "No, I won't do it Jacob. I will NOT leave."

"Leave?" Marnie began to panic just as quickly as Renesmee began to argue, "No, why would you leave?"

"There was a vampire at the school. A real vampire and I did not kill it. I let it get away. She could have a whole army of vampires being rounded up this second to come back here. We have no idea what she's going to do next. We can't take the chance of staying here." I explained to both of them, "Be reasonable please and think about this."

"I'm not leaving Jacob. She was not here for me and I highly doubt that she's going to come back to the place where she was almost killed by a werewolf!" Renesmee countered, "I graduate in less than two months! Then we leave for Dartmouth. I'm not leaving NOW. That would be stupid."

"No, staying would be stupid." I groaned, "Nessie, I don't like this anymore than you do but I cannot let you stay here when there is a vampire out there who knows who you are and where you are. Your parents asked me to protect you and I have to do that. I can't let them down."

Her lip quivered when I mentioned Edward and Bella. Marnie was shaking her head no, back and forth as if she couldn't believe what I was saying.

"I'm sorry." I wanted to cry just looking at the heartbreak in both of their eyes, "I'm really sorry but this is what has to be done. We have to leave and we have to leave tonight."

"Jake please." Her anger had subsided to tears and Renesmee was now crying, "Please don't make me do this. I'm going to Dartmouth in the fall. If we leave now, I can't go because I don't graduate. What about Erin and Russell? What about Marnie? You promised we wouldn't leave her Jake. You promised."

My resolve was crumbling with every tear that fell from her eyes. I hated to do this to her. I really, really hated to do this to her but I had to do it. I had to protect her. This was where I was in constant conflict. Give her what she wants or protect her? Give in and risk her life or fight it and save her?

"We can't take Marnie with us Nessie."

I heard Marnie start to sob and Renesmee's cries grew louder. This was really going to kill me to have to do this.

"We can't take Marnie. I'm sorry. I don't even know where we're going to go yet or who we're going to be. We have no papers for her. She has a life here and if we take her," I turned to Marnie and cringed as I continued to speak, "She's gonna slow us down. We travel faster without her."

"But what if Bonnie comes back? What if she does come back like you said? This house smells like us. She'll come here. She'll find Marnie. We can't leave her here."

Marnie looked up at me with fear and pain in her eyes.

"Renesmee's right. You need to move. You don't have to leave town but you'll need to get into a different house. You can't take anything from this house with you. Start over." I watched Marnie's heart break a little more in front of my eyes, "I'm sorry Marnie. I have to protect her."

"I understand." Marnie said through her sobs, "Go. I understand."

"No." Renesmee objected, "No, Marnie. Come with us. You can. We'll go in the Aston, Jake. She's not a liability if we're traveling in a car. We can take her with us. We do not have to leave her."

"Renesmee!" It was too much for me to take. I couldn't handle the pleading and begging. She wanted this more than anything else in the world right now and I wanted to give it to her. I was moments from giving in and that was not the right thing to do, "If there's anything you want to take with you, put it in a bag so we can leave. You know how this works."

"Jacob please." Renesmee cried once more but I couldn't look at her.

I turned away and waited until I had heard her footsteps retreat all the way up the stairs before turning around again.

"I'm sorry Marnie." I repeated my apology to the woman who had really become a mother to both me and Renesmee, "This is killing me to do this to you and to her and to myself. This is the last thing in the world I want to do right now."

"I know." Marnie had controlled her sobs and recomposed herself, "You're doing what you have to do to protect her and you."

"And you." I reminded her.

She nodded.

"I love you two." Marnie choked back the tears that threatened to reappear, "If it's ever safe to come back, you will right?"

"Absolutely." I promised without a second thought.

It wasn't really in my nature to hug anyone other than Renesmee but in this moment it felt right. I pulled Marnie against my chest and crushed her there, holding onto her tight. Tears threatened to spill from my own eyes and I had to force them back. I had to be the strong one here. I couldn't lose it in front of them.

"Okay." Marnie took a deep breath and a step back, looking up at me, "I can take NOTHING from here? No clothes? No art? Nothing?"

"As little as possible. Nothing would be better but most of your art supplies and things have never been touched by Nessie and I so that might be okay." I explained.

Marnie nodded and then both our gazes turned to the stairs where Renesmee stood, dejected and clearly upset, but without tears. She carried one small bag and tried to hide her quivering lower lip from me.

"I'm ready." She mumbled.

"Okay." I glanced back at Marnie and then decided against hugging her again before I ran up the stairs to gather my own things.

There wasn't much I needed to take with me; some clean clothes, our stash of passports, licenses and legal records and the cash I had hidden for times exactly like these. I had packed it all up in one bag and was just flipping off the light when I realized there was a manila envelope on my dresser that I had never seen before.

I set my bag back on the bed and lifted up the envelope. My name was scrawled on the top in Marnie's handwriting. I opened it slowly and then pulled out the contents. The glossy pages emerged easily and this time I couldn't hold back the tears. Silently, all alone in my room, I cried as I flipped through the pictures Marnie had taken just hours earlier before Renesmee and I had left for prom. There was a note included.

"Jacob, give these to Nessie when you two have a special moment alone. They're gorgeous because you guys are gorgeous. No matter what the future holds, you can look at these pictures and remember that the couple you see is truly and 100% in love, even if they don't realize it yet. It's an honor to be a part of your lives. Love, Marnie."

I hated leaving her here. I hated leaving at all. Stupid, idiotic blood sucking vampire! Why did she have to show up and ruin everything? The fairytale was finally coming together and she just waltzes in and it's done. Start over. One end and a new beginning.

I would gladly trade the new beginning for a "to be continued."

I debated for just a second, contemplating whether I could take these pictures with us. They would certainly make moving on harder but they were beautiful. I couldn't give them up. I stashed them in my bag and ran downstairs.

"Alright, let's go." I grabbed Renesmee's hand but she quickly ripped it from my grasp, eyeing me with pure hatred, "Renesmee."

"Don't talk to me. I'm going because my parents would want me to listen to you but don't think for a second that I will ever forgive you for this Jacob. I hate you."

She stomped out of the house without so much as a backward glance. Marnie had disappeared so I couldn't even say goodbye. That was probably for the best since goodbye's always made things harder. Instinctively, this should have been the right decision but why did it feel so wrong?

"Goodbye." I whispered to the emptiness and then followed Renesmee out the front door. New beginning, here we come.

_**Four years later…**_

The sun was beating down extremely hot. Even the cover of trees wasn't keeping it's incessant rays from penetrating my fur as I laid very calm and still looking over the Chanhassen High School campus.

This thick grouping of trees, thick enough to hide a gigantic wolf but close enough to the school for me to see and hear everything that occurred during the day, had become very comfortable for me. It was well worn from me spending almost every day of the past four years curled up here but more than that, it was the only place I could just lay and watch her. The closest I could get to her. My Renesmee.

"Sarah Ann Murdoch. Dennis Paul Murphy." The principal was reading names out over the loudspeaker and from my perch I could see all the seniors marching across the stage one by one, "Jessica Isabella Nabila."

Renesmee would be called soon. I could see her fidgeting in her seat, just a few rows of students before she would take her place in line. She was breathtaking, as always. Her auburn curls cascaded down her back from underneath her graduation cap. The navy blue gown she wore covered all but the smallest hints of her glowing skin. I wished she knew I was here. I wanted her to know I was watching but then again, she probably wouldn't have been too happy with that. She had made it perfectly clear she no longer wanted anything to do with me.

"_Okay, I have my new identity. We've picked a city. I'll find a family. We're done."_

_I watched Renesmee shuffle the papers in her hands over and over. She was nervous but every time I reached out to reassure her she took a step away from me._

"_Is there anything else I need to know?" She asked._

"_I love you."_

_For a split second the Renesmee I knew was present in her chocolate eyes. Those eyes sparkled and the hint of a smile flitted across her face and then it was all gone again, replaced with pain and sorrow and what I feared was hatred, all directed at me._

"_Stay away from me Jacob. I know you have to be around because you're my guardian and that's what my parents told you to do. Watch over me. Make sure I'm okay. Protect me and all that nonsense but I don't want to see you, talk to you, or know where you are at anytime. Do we have an understanding?"_

"_Nessie."_

"_Do you understand me Jake? We are finished. I am gonna live in this stupid town you've picked. I'll do everything I am supposed to. I will work my ass off for another four years to try AGAIN to get into Dartmouth and then I will go to Dartmouth and I will live my life and you can watch, you'll have to, I know, but I don't wanna know about it. Keep your distance."_

"Carlie Jean Swan." My ears perked up immediately and I lifted my head as I watched her walk across the stage.

She was as graceful and elegant as she always had been. She smiled and waved at her friends and the adoptive parents she had lived with for the past four years. She stopped for a picture, shook the principal's hand and accepted her high school diploma. Her eye's never even wavered in my direction. The small glimmer of hope I had been holding onto vanished. She didn't care if I was here to watch her graduate high school. She really wanted nothing to do with me.

When the ceremony was over I watched the students and their families get in their cars and drive away, towards the celebrations they were sure to be having on such a momentous day. I raced through the cover of trees, around Hazeltine Lake and managed to reach the house Renesmee called home before she and her "family" did.

Located on the edge of the lake, just off of the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chanhassen, Minnesota, their home was massive and gorgeous and very conveniently surrounded by woods. I took my usual station in the depths of the trees and listened for them to arrive.

From previous eavesdropping sessions, I knew they would come straight home after the graduation. The party of the century was set to be held in their backyard gardens that evening and there was still a lot of decorating and preparing to be done. The party planner and caterers would be arriving in about an hour and after that there wouldn't be a single inch of their entire estate which wouldn't be occupied until the wee hours of tomorrow morning.

I had a small window of opportunity here so I had to be poised to take it as soon as I had the chance.

"Carlie, we're so proud of you honey." Mrs. Julian hugged Renesmee as the family stepped out of their Mercedes SUV.

"Thank you." Renesmee replied, closing the door of the car behind her, "I'm just glad it's over. High School seems like it's lasted for 8 years instead of 4."

I knew she would want to laugh at her own private joke but no one was there to know why she would be laughing, so she didn't. Mr. & Mrs. Julian along with their biological children Brandon and Olivia, and of course Renesmee headed into the house.

I could hear the heels from the women's shoes clicking against the marble in their foyer. I recognized the smaller, lighter steps of Olivia headed up the stairs to her bedroom. I heard Mr. Julian head for his study, where he would no doubt spend the next 5 hours making business calls. Brandon headed for his bedroom and Mrs. Julian towards the kitchen.

I had to listen extra hard, worried that I had missed the sound of Renesmee's retreat but then I heard it. She was going exactly where I thought she would go after such an important day. She was headed for the gazebo at the edge of the lake, just a few feet from where I was currently hiding and I would get my one chance to talk to her. A chance I had been waiting to take for 4 years.

It was exactly 129 steps from the back door of the main house to the gazebo. I counted them as she took them, listening carefully. Trying to gauge as much of my surroundings as I possibly could before revealing myself to her. I needed to make sure it was safe. I needed to make sure the family wouldn't see me. I needed to make sure I wouldn't startle her so she wouldn't scream. Most of all, I needed to listen to her.

Her heartbeat was normal. Fast for a human but normal for Renesmee, like the flapping of hummingbird's wings. Her breathing was normal, always calm and collected. She wasn't rushing so she wasn't in a hurry. Everything about her seemed relaxed which I could only hope would work in my favor.

Renesmee reached the gazebo and I could see her lean against the rails, looking out over the still waters in front of her. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, taking in the peaceful surroundings. She smiled.

I emerged from the woods slowly and took two tentative steps in her direction. She saw me the moment I stepped out from my hiding spot and whipped around to face me without a moment's hesitation. Those chocolate brown eyes widened and her lips parted, mouth falling open in surprise. I took one more step forward, trying to convey to her from my wolf form that I meant no harm. Our eyes connected and I waited. All I needed was one word, one gesture, anything that meant she wanted me to come further. That she was willing to see me.

I waited, but she didn't move.

Without being able to talk, all I could do was whimper softly, hoping to convey to her somehow that I just wanted to talk. The sound must have did it because her head snapped up and her mouth snapped closed. She sighed and then stepped out of the gazebo and took a few steps in my direction.

"Jacob."

My name from her lips sounded like angels music. When she was close enough to me, I nudged her with my nose and did my best to give her a wolf grin, hoping she would understand the emotion that I was happy to see her. To be near her. For her to speak to me. Had it been four years earlier, I would have had no doubt she would understand what I was trying to say. Now, with the way she was staring at me inquisitively, I wasn't sure.

I had no way of telling her to stay where she was standing but I needed to be able to talk to her, so I turned and walked back to the woods quickly, hoping to be able to phase, get dressed and return before she disappeared.

I smiled when I returned and she hadn't moved an inch.

"Nessie." I was inches away from her, close enough to touch. I reached out to brush my fingers across her cheek but was quickly rebuffed, my hand slapped away with lightning fast precision.

"Don't touch me." Her eyes were still blank, holding no emotion at all, but the message was received. She was still very angry with me, "What are you doing here Jacob?"

"It's your graduation day. I couldn't miss it Ness. It's an important day for you."

"Yeah, so was this day four years ago but I didn't get to see graduation day four years ago did I?" She closed her eyes as the last word left her lips, a sigh escaping as she took a deep breath, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I did, but I didn't. Damn, this is hard."

She didn't open her eyes but the conflict raging in her head could be read across her entire face. She was angry but I had a feeling she missed me too.

"It's okay Nessie. I know you're still mad at me."

"I'm not." She interrupted me before I could continue, opening her eyes slowly, "I'm not still mad. You surprised me today but I'm not mad. I lashed out because of the surprise that's all."

"Okay, not mad but also not happy to see me." I cringed waiting for her to agree. I could see she wasn't happy to see me but it would hurt more if she actually said it.

"I'm indifferent." She mumbled, "Honestly, it's been so long since I saw you that I thought maybe you gave up on me and left."

"I could never do that." I assured her.

Renesmee nodded.

"The imprinting thing. You can never be too far because it would be physically painful. I know."

I started to try to explain that it wasn't the imprinting that kept me near her as much as it was how much I loved her. I wanted her to know that it wasn't an obligation I felt to stick around but rather a want. If I hadn't wanted to be around her I would have found a way to deal with the physical pain. But she didn't let me explain.

"You need to go. The caterers are gonna be here soon and the family is nearby. I don't want them to see you and freak out. I have a party to get ready for."

"Please Renesmee, I just want one minute with you. It's been so long…"

"Carlie!" A voice called from the main house and instinctively I backed up towards the trees, "Carlie!"

"I'm coming!" Renesmee yelled back as she glanced up to the house and then back to me, "I have to go Jake. Do you know where the Landscape Arboretum is in Chaska?"

Her question surprised me. The gardens in the next town over were quite beautiful and during the summer, a very popular place to visit. I knew where it was but why was she asking?

"Yes."

"Meet me there okay? Tomorrow morning. 5am." Renesmee looked backwards towards the house and I saw her. "I really have to go Jake. Tomorrow morning okay?"

"Okay, I'll be there." I agreed.

I saw a faint smile cross her lips and then it was gone. She glanced towards me, still indifferent and then turned and ran back to the house. I really didn't know what had just happened or if it was a good thing, but it seemed like a step in the right direction.

I returned to the woods there by the gazebo and phased back to my animal form. With a huff I resigned myself to lay here patiently because no matter how much I was looking forward to finding out what the next day would hold, it wouldn't come any faster. The minutes and hours would tick by at the same speed they always did and only tomorrow would know what tomorrow would bring.

_**Author's Note part 2: I'm so so sorry but this is where it had to go to get to where I want it to be. Please don't be tooooooo mad at me! I promise another update soon! :)**_


	10. Identity: Chapter Nine

_**Author's Note: Okay, so I promised retrowaffle an update by Christmas and TADA! Promise kept! :) Thank you so much to all of you who have reviewed. It means sooooo much to me that you take the time to tell me what you think of this story and it keeps me motivated. I warn you, although my beta did volunteer to edit new chapters for me, I wanted to get this one to you guys immediately so it IS unbeta'd. That being said, I think it's passable. LOVE YOU ALLL! Just in case I don't get another update out before the holidays pass, HAPPY HOLIDAYS to you all! Whatever the season means to you, may it bring you peace, love, hope and joy! Enjoy! :)  
**_

**Chapter Nine**

**Renesmee POV**

The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is over 1,000 acres of property, gardens, woodlands, prairies and so much more. I visited here often, as it reminded me of the times I used to spend in and surrounded by nature as I grew up with Jacob.

Despite the immensity of the property, I knew that Jacob would find me where I waited for him. He would know exactly where I was and when I got there and he would show up shortly after I did. He wouldn't let me down. Despite everything, I knew that much for sure.

I took a seat outside of Berens Cabin, the last remaining structure of the original Arboretum. It was in the woods, slightly secluded so that we wouldn't be detected. 5 am was much earlier than the 8am opening time. Technically, we were trespassing.

Jacob slid onto the seat next to me without making a single noise, yet I had known he was there before he had appeared. His presence was not something that could be overlooked. My mind was very attuned to his energy, despite the four year absence of it.

"Hi." He whispered after a few moments of silence.

"Hi." I replied, glancing over at him from underneath my lashes, "You're early."

"So are you." He smiled, playfully nudging me with his shoulder, "I followed you after you left your house but I figured I'd let you pick where you wanted to meet me before I revealed myself."

I nodded slowly. Things were so uncomfortable with us now. Weird to think just four years earlier we had been nearly inseparable. I was different now. We were different now. Life, in general, was just different now.

"Do you do that a lot? Follow me around?" I asked, still avoiding making direct eye contact with him.

"All the time." He admitted, "It's hard for me, if I don't know where you are. Impossible really."

"Right, that imprinting stuff."

"It's not just that Nessie, it's more. I want to be near you. I want to be your best friend again. I love you."

I felt him reaching for my hand so I moved it before the contact could be made. The last thing I wanted was for him to touch me right now. It was too weird. Too much. Too familiar and he was a stranger to me now.

"Sorry." He mumbled, pulling back his hand when mine moved away.

I let the apology linger in the air without a response. It wasn't okay so I couldn't say it was. Nothing was okay between Jacob and I. It was hard enough just sitting here next to him let alone to have him touch me.

"So I start Dartmouth in the fall." I spoke after a few minutes of awkward silence, "You probably already knew that since you follow me around."

"I did know but, I'm glad you told me." Jacob looked over at me and I could feel him smiling, "Makes it feel more official."

A sarcastic laugh slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it. Jacob's smile fell.

"Sorry, it's just," I sighed, "It felt pretty official four years ago and then now here we are. Official is funny to me. The one thing I can count on in life is that nothing is certain. Nothing is official until it actually happens."

The awkward silence fell over us again. The tension filled all the space between us and around us and I could almost taste it. It was thick and smothering, like clouds of smoke.

"So I was thinking…" Jacob broke the silence.

"Uh oh." I tried to joke but it fell flat and received only a blank look from Jacob, "Sorry, go ahead. You were thinking?"

"Well, I promised you almost 5 years ago that on your 16th birthday, I would take you back to Forks. And I know that your birthday is a few months away still but I was hoping that maybe you would agree to taking the trip early. We could leave anytime and go and make it like a summer adventure maybe? Something for us to do together before you go off to Dartmouth in the fall? One last hurrah?"

My eyes finally connected with his and I could see the hope he had for me to answer yes to his proposition. My heart fluttered underneath his gaze, the same way it used to when he kissed me. That felt like so long ago but he still affected me. I didn't want to admit it but my heart would always belong to Jacob Black. If only my heart hadn't shattered into a million pieces four years ago there may have still been a chance for us. That wasn't what I needed to focus on though. He was asking me to go to Forks with him. One last hurrah? That made it sound like eternity wasn't stretched out before us like it always had been.

"The last hurrah huh?" I let half a smile flit across my lips, "Last makes it sound awfully permanent. I'll only be in college for four years Jake. Then I get to start this whole high school thing over in a new city again. This is life remember? Eternity for the immortal. High school, college, rinse and repeat."

Jacob laughed, a real echoing laugh but it trailed off into sadness.

"Well, I just figured that you would want to go to Dartmouth without me. You don't really need me around anymore and you've done a good job of taking care of yourself for the past four years. I didn't think I was invited to be a part of your life anymore and I just wanted to make sure to at least keep this one promise to you before we went our separate ways."

The pieces of my heart that I had managed to mend over the past four years shattered all over again and my breath rushed away from me. It felt like I had just been stabbed, although I had no idea what that would actually feel like, this emotional wound felt incredibly physical. Jacob didn't even want to watch over me now. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with me. He was going to leave me alone, for real.

"Nessie, are you okay?" Jacob was frowning at me.

I realized that I had backed to the furthest corner of the old wooden porch, as far away from him as I could get within the fairly confined space. I hadn't even known when I did it. I couldn't catch my breath and the searing pain in my chest would not dissipate. Was I okay? No, not at all.

"Renesmee." Jacob took a tentative step towards me, his arm outstretched and a look of confusion etched over his features, "Nessie?"

"You… alone… me…" I couldn't form a sentence, "No. No."

"Nessie. Calm down. What's wrong?" Jacob stepped closer again, still more than an arm's length away, "What is it? Did I do something wrong? You were fine one second and now you're not breathing. Renesmee, breathe."

I collapsed to the floor and immediately Jacob sprung to my side, pulling me into his arms and rocking me back and forth. It would be a stretch to say I was hyperventilating. I wasn't breathing at all. I couldn't force myself to take in any oxygen. The pain was spreading and taking over and in moments, I knew I would pass out from it all. This couldn't be happening. He wasn't serious about leaving me.

"Nessie, please breathe honey. Please." Jacob smoothed my hair and kissed my forehead, rocking me, trying to help, "I don't know how to fix this. I don't know what's wrong. Please breathe. Please tell me what's wrong."

All at once I was able to take a deep breath and as oxygen filled my lungs again, the blistering pain ebbed. My muscles relaxed and my whole body went limp in Jacob's arms. My eyes closed but I was conscious. Breathing returned to normal slowly and Jacob was quiet. It was a full minute before either of us spoke.

"Don't leave me." I whispered.

"What?" I knew Jacob would have heard me clearly at the sound level I had used to speak but he was asking me to repeat myself anyway.

"Don't leave me." I opened my eyes slowly, finding his eyes connected directly with mine as he held me in his arms, "You can't leave me alone."

"I don't want to." He said simply. His eyebrows were knitted together as if he were searching my face for something more, "I never want to be away from you ever, I just thought that you didn't want me around anymore."

"I was mad Jake. I was hurt and angry but I've always known you were there. Even when I tried to convince myself otherwise, deep down for the past four years I've known every second that you were nearby. Please don't leave me."

My tears began to fall before I could stop them. Our embrace changed and he cradled me in his arms, holding me tight. He still rocked me in a soothing motion as if I were a baby who needed to be consoled. To him I probably still was a baby.

"I'll never leave you Ness. As long as you want me here, I'm here. I'm so sorry. I never meant to upset you."

His words were mumbled against my cheek and then he kissed my cheek softly.

"I'm so sorry." He repeated.

It took awhile for me to regain my composure. There was so much to think about and so much I never wanted to think about again. Jacob held me and we were both quiet while the atmosphere settled around us. I stopped crying and he watched me, carefully, as if one wrong look may send me into hysteria again.

"Sorry I freaked out." I whispered after the long silence, "I never exactly prepared myself for the day you would tell me you were gonna go away permanently."

A quick panic threatened to settle again at the idea but I choked it back and took a deep breath then smiled.

"Obviously I can't really handle that idea."

"I won't leave." Jacob assured me, "I promise."

I cocked my head to the side and nodded slowly, biting the inside of my lower lip nervously.

"Therein lies the problem." I said quietly, "Your promises don't mean much anymore. You broke so many in just one night, I don't know if I trust you anymore."

Jacob frowned sadly but he nodded in acceptance of my statement.

"I can understand that. I broke a lot of promises the night I took you away from Marnie and I can't make up for that but that is why I do not want to break any more promises. I promised you I would take you to Forks and I want to keep that promise."

We stared into each others eyes for a moment. I could see nothing but sincerity and love in his eyes as he stared at me. It was exactly how he used to stare at me every single day. His gaze made me feel safe and wanted. I had a feeling if I stared into his eyes long enough my shattered heart may begin to heal.

"Then let's do it." I reached up tentatively and placed my hand on Jacob's cheek, showing him my last memory of my Grandpa Charlie and the things I remembered and missed from Forks, "Let's leave today."

Jacob grinned, his impish wolfy grin as he leaned his head heavier against my palm.

"I missed your weird visions." He laughed.

"I missed your smile." I admitted.

His head snapped to attention and he focused on my eyes again. My statement had caught him off guard. Hell, it had caught me off guard but it was the truth. There was a lot about Jacob I had missed over the past few years. It was just going to take awhile to admit to myself and to him all of those things.

I could see before he made any minute movement that he was going to try to kiss me. He was staring at me, his arms were still around me, the moment probably seemed right to him but, no matter how much I missed him, I could not go there with him again.

"Don't." I stood up and walked away from Jacob before he could tilt his head in my direction, "Whatever you were about to do you can't do it. Just don't okay?"

He was up and following me through the woods behind the cabin before I could even take ten steps.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you again." Jacob grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him before we could go any farther, "I'm sorry. Don't run away."

A small smile broke out across my face.

"Like I could really out run you anyway." I laughed.

He grinned and pulled me to his chest for a really tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're talking to me again Nessie. I know we have a long way to go to get back to where we used to be, if we can ever get there again but I love having you as part of my life and I don't ever want to lose this again."

I hugged him back cautiously, letting my face rest against him. I wanted to say it but knew it was too soon. I love you Jake. The words did not leave my mouth.

The hug turned uncomfortable after a little bit and I pulled away, stuffing my hands in my pockets as I rocked back and forth on my heels. I stared up at him and waited to see who was going to speak first.

"So when do we leave for Forks? If you give me an hour I can have my stuff together and I'll meet you back here, at the front entrance to take off. Is that good?"

"Um, don't you need to let the family know that you're leaving? Come up with a good story? If you just disappear that might throw up a red flag for Dartmouth." Jacob countered my suggestion.

"I can handle the family." I raised my eyebrow at him, "That won't take long. Trust me. Just meet me back here in an hour okay? Front entrance."

"Okay." Jacob agreed with a cocky smile, "If you say so."

"I say so." I smiled back at him and then took off in the opposite direction, pausing when I was 100 yards away to turn back and look at him. He was standing in the exact same spot, watching me and grinning.

I couldn't help the swell of happiness that flooded my senses as I turned around again and ran towards the place I currently called home. It wasn't the same and it probably never would be, but I felt oddly complete knowing that Jacob would again be a part of my life. He would be by my side instead of watching from the shadows. We could again be a team.

"Where have you been so early this morning?" Nancy, my foster mother, asked as she caught me sneaking in the front door.

I didn't miss a beat so my answer came out naturally and believably.

"Early morning jog. Wanted to clear my head." I smiled at her and she smiled back, not a hint of doubt in her eyes, "Um, is Paul awake? I had something I wanted to talk to you guys about."

"Yeah, he's in his study." Nancy cocked her head to the side inquisitively, "Should we be worried?"

"No. It's not bad." I grinned, a true honest grin rather than the forced ones I had been giving Nancy for four years.

She led me to Paul's study and knocked quietly on the door, waiting for him to call us inside. Once we had stepped inside Nancy closed the door lightly behind us and then took a seat in a nearby chair.

"Carlie has something she would like to talk to us about." Nancy said to Paul and he looked at me with the same inquisitive look she had just moments earlier, "Don't worry. She says it's nothing bad."

I took a seat in a chair that was at once facing both Nancy and Paul and inhaled deeply. I had to make sure that this came out believable so they wouldn't question me leaving.

"Since it's my first summer as a high school graduate and the last summer I'll have before college, I want to take a road trip. Just get out of town and travel a bit before I get to Dartmouth and have to really buckle down. What do you think?" Better to just get straight to the point then try to ease them into this concept.

"That sounds like a great idea honey." Nancy exclaimed, glancing over to Paul who didn't react quite as enthusiastically, "Doesn't that sound great Paul? A real life experience."

"Who's going with you?" Paul asked me before answering Nancy.

"No one. Just me. I want to think and reflect and have some alone time." I smiled, hoping that would warm him up to the idea.

"A road trip by yourself?" Now Nancy didn't sound so enthusiastic, "I don't know about that sweetheart. It can be dangerous out there. I thought you would at least be taking a friend or two with you. I'm sure Jeanine or that really sweet Lincoln girl, what's her name? Sarah? Sasha?"

"Samantha." I recalled the name of one of the girls who traveled in the social circle I claimed to be a part of, "And I'm sure Jeanine or Samantha would love to go but I really wanna do this alone. It's a time of reflection. I'm not doing it to party before college and no offense to Jeanine or Samantha or any of the other kids from my class, but they're all a bit wild. I'm not really into that stuff. It was fine for high school but this is something I really want to do to grow into an adult as I head into college."

The three of us sat in silence for a moment. Paul studied me carefully, as he did sometimes. Whenever he looked at me like this I wondered if he saw me for what I really was, a fifteen year old half-vampire liar. Nancy watched Paul, waiting for her cue, whether they as a unit would be saying yes or no to this plan.

"This is something you really want?" Paul asked.

I nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay." He nodded back and sighed, "I was going to wait until you were leaving for Dartmouth to give this to you but if you want to go on a road trip it might be better to give it to you now."

Paul opened the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a small package and small envelope. He handed them to Nancy and nodded my direction so she would walk them over to me.

"You don't have to give me anything Paul." I took the package and envelope from Nancy but didn't open them, "Really, just your blessing for taking this trip is enough."

"I know I don't have to give you anything, but it's from both of us and it's something we wanted to do for you so just open it."

Paul and Nancy were both watching me, smiling and waiting for me to make my move. I started with the envelope since I figured it was a card of some sort. I was wrong. It was a check.

"This is $50,000." My mouth fell open, "I can't accept $50,000 from you guys. That's insane."

"It's part of a college trust fund we set up for you when you moved in with us." Nancy explained, "The other part of it will be going to pay for your tuition to Dartmouth but we wanted to give this to you to do with as you please. A bit to get you started on your new adult life."

I was speechless. Not that $50,000 was a lot of money to me. Jacob and I had managed very well on the insane amount of money my mother had stashed into my bag when she had placed me in his care. Really, I would never have to worry about money and I knew that but no one had ever just given me $50,000 before. It was the gesture more than the amount.

"There's another part to the present." Nancy urged me on past my shock, "Open the box."

The small gift wrapped box seemed insignificant now compared to the check in my hand. I couldn't imagine what could possibly be inside that could measure up to $50,000. Then again, the Julian's had an immeasurable amount of money and influence in this town. For all I knew there was a key to the city in this tiny box.

I almost laughed when I finally opened the package. There was a key inside but it certainly wasn't to the city. It was to a car.

"I didn't know you wanted to go on a road trip when we picked it out or we would have picked out something with a little better gas mileage, but we were looking more at safety when we chose that one." Paul was smiling from ear to ear, clearly happy to be able to give these gifts to me, "It's an Audi Q7. Top of the line."

"You guys, this is amazing. Are you sure about this?" I gazed at the car key and the check in my hands and then switched my stare to the two proud parents in front of me, "I don't deserve this."

"You deserve it." Nancy rushed to me and pulled me from my chair for a tight hug, "You're going to Dartmouth. You're an amazing kid and we're so lucky to have you in our lives. We want you to have everything you've dreamed of. We love you like you're our own daughter."

I hugged her back and shot Paul a smile from over Nancy's shoulder. I mouthed a thank you to him, knowing an open and overt show of affection was definitely more Nancy's style than Paul's.

"Thank you so much." Nancy released me from her grasp and I took a deep breath, "So, I'm planning on leaving for the road trip today. Now actually, I was just gonna run upstairs and pack. Is that gonna be okay?"

"Whatever you want." Paul spoke up before Nancy could object and insist on a huge family meal before my departure, "The car is parked in the guest house garage. Just please make sure to say bye to Brandon and Olivia before you head out. They'd be sort of crushed if you left without a goodbye."

"Of course." I grinned one more time at both of them and then ran from the room, jumping for joy.

For the first time in four years I was truly happy, at least for a moment. Life was definitely looking up. I had $50,000, a brand new car and Jacob. I had my best friend back, even if he was a long way from being my best friend again, he was at least back and actively a part of my life. I had cause for smiling.

I was back in front of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum exactly one hour from the time I had parted ways with Jacob. It was still very early and well before business hours, but Jacob sat patiently on the bench in the front garden, waiting and clearly deep in thought.

"Hey wolf man!" I called out the driver's side window of my metallic black new Audi, "Hop in yeah?"

Jacob looked up at me and a grin spread across his face as he grabbed a single duffle bag from beside the bench and jogged across the street towards me. He tossed his duffle bag into the back seat and the easily slid into the passenger seat, the leather squeaking underneath him.

We shared a genuine smile and then I cocked my head to the side and nodded to my GPS on the front console.

"So, where to?"


	11. Identity: Chapter Ten

_**Author's Note: OMG, you guys I'm soooooo sorry for the incredibly long wait! Ugh, life always seems to get in the way huh? So much going on all the time. I want to thank you so much for all the reviews that you've all submitted and especially those of you who have been PM'ing me, reminding me you still wanna read the story, urging me to update. Just knowing that people still wanna read this, I knew I had to get a chapter written and out for you guys. That being said, I'm sorry it's so short. I knew what I wanted to accomplish with it and now that this stepping stone is done, I think the next chapter is gonna come faster and be longer. YAY! I hope you all like this chapter. My one request is that I would really like to know what you all would like to see happen as the story progresses. I have a few ideas for what I want to happen but I'd love to know what you want to happen to? How do you think the story should end? (not that it's ending any time soon, but just your ideas, lol)**_

_**Read on and enjoy! Thank you again for all your continued support! :)  
**_

**Chapter Ten**

**Jacob POV**

Greasy diner food had never bothered me. Hitting a random hole in the wall no name place like Billy Joe's Grub in the middle of nowhere was not a problem at all for my stomach. But I never, in a million years, would have expected to witness what I was now witnessing.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Renesmee asked me incredulously, stuffing another French fry into her mouth and chewing enthusiastically through her grin, "It's just a French fry."

"French fries that are accompanied by a greasy hamburger, side salad and strawberry milk shake eaten by a girl who doesn't even like food." I frowned at her, "Seriously? You're really eating all that?"

"For someone who claims to have been watching over me from afar for the past four years, you're incredibly awestruck by something I've been doing for awhile. Without you around I didn't have anyone to hunt with. I switched to the human diet and actually, I'm kind of starting to like it. I still like my meat rare but strawberry milkshakes are yummy." As she said it she sipped her shake happily and all I could do was shake my head.

In the past four years, for some reason this minute detail had escaped me. I had overlooked the fact that she had switched to the human diet. How had I missed that? I knew everything about her, or so I had thought until now.

"So, what's the plan Jake? We are in Casselton, North Dakota headed to Forks. What do we do? This is the first time in my life I think we've gone on a trip without knowing exactly where we were going next and what we would do when we get there unless we're running from something obviously but, this is different. There's always a plan."

I didn't have a plan. She was right, we always had a plan, but I was definitely plan-less this time. For once we were just headed west, no time frame set out and nothing holding us back. It was kind of nice, this leisurely trip.

"I honestly have no idea." I finally told her after a few minutes of debate, "We are about a day east of Forks. Just have to drive through the rest of North Dakota and Montana to get to Washington. Then across Washington to the coast."

"Montana?" Renesmee's eyes lit up slightly, "We're going through Montana? Why didn't I realize that earlier?"

"I don't know." I shrugged and then realized why she was asking, "Oh, Belgrade. Marnie."

"Are we going through Belgrade Jake?" She was frowning now.

"I don't know." I repeated, "I'll check the GPS. Give me your keys."

She handed the keys to the car over to me and I reluctantly left her in the diner alone while I headed out to the car, turning it on and watching the GPS come to life. Without erasing our predetermined route to Forks, I entered in the new destination of Belgrade to see if it was on our route and within a few seconds, it was confirmed. We'd be passing right through the town we'd called home just four years before.

I headed back into the diner, sitting down at our table with slightly less gusto than I'd had when I had left a few minutes before. Renesmee stared at me with inquisitive eyes, waiting for the answer to her question. I wasn't really sure which answer would have been worse. Yes or No.

"Yeah, we pass right through it. I-90 directly through town."

I waited for her to react but she didn't. She stared at me, straw from her milkshake still hanging from her mouth, though the slurping had ceased. Her eyes never left mine but she didn't say a word.

"I didn't know Nessie. When we set our course for Forks, I didn't know where it was taking us through. It never even occurred to me until now and I would never…"

"Can we stop?" She asked quietly, "Can we see her?"

Marnie. The mother figure we had both grown up without. She meant so much to both of us and leaving her had killed me, just as I knew it had killed Renesmee.

"We don't know that she's still there Nessie. I told her to run. And if we don't know where to find her and someone recognizes us, we have to explain where we've been and why we disappeared. I don't think we can."

"Please Jake?"

Her eyes pleaded with me past her words. When I looked into them I could see the memories, the good times, the bad times, the fun, the friends, and then the pain of leaving it all behind. I couldn't tell her no.

"Okay." I agreed reluctantly, "We stop and see if we can find her without being recognized. Let's come up with a story now about where we've been in case we see someone we know."

"Witness protection." Renesmee grinned widely and leaned back in her chair, back to happily slurping her milkshake, "It's completely ridiculous but if we sell it, anyone will believe it. You know we're good at selling completely ridiculous stories."

I smiled back at her, the pain now was now erased from her eyes and I reveled in her happiness. I always felt the best when she was happy.

We spent the rest of the drive to Belgrade as if the past four years hadn't come between us. When she was driving she relayed stories of high school and fun times through visions so I could see the action as well as hear about it. When I was driving she talked and we laughed and things seemed to be so normal.

"What am I supposed to do when the best part of me was always you? What am I supposed to say when I'm all choked up that you're okay? I'm falling to pieces, yeah. I'm falling to pieces." Renesmee sang Breakeven by The Script at the top of her lungs as we drove.

"You have the weirdest taste in music." I commented, shifting in my seat to turn more towards her while she drove.

"What? The Script is awesome." Renesmee argued.

"No, I agree but before this we were listening to some sort of country music and before that hip hop. I'm confused."

Her laugh lit up her eyes and filled the car with joy.

"I like a variety of music." She said simply, "Don't judge me."

I held up my hands in playful surrender and shook my head.

"Me? Judge? Never."

We drove in shifts during the night so we could continue and not have to stop anywhere for sleep. On the deserted highway, I had time to watch her sleep and listen to the evenness of her breathing in peaceful slumber. Sights and sounds I had missed greatly. I was so amazed to be with her again, on the road to getting everything back.

Of course, I couldn't be positive that things would ever go back to the way they were before but I could hope. This trip was giving me hope again, something I had lost recently.

"Love is unstoppable." I sang along to Rascall Flatts, a song that had repeated enough times during our drive that I now knew the words. I liked the words. Maybe that was why they had stuck in my mind.

It was exactly 11 hours and 32 minutes after leaving the diner in Casselton when we pulled into the parking lot of Lee & Dad's IGA market in Belgrade and shut off the car to take a look at our surroundings and officially formulate the plan.

"It's 6am." Renesmee sighed, stretching and rubbing her eyes as she looked around the mostly empty parking lot, "Let's go inside. Use the bathroom and then just ask someone if they know where we can find Marnie. Simple enough right?"

"Hopefully." My mind was racing with the things that could go wrong, a by-product of being paranoid for so many years.

"Come on Jake. It's gonna be fine." Renesmee hopped out of the passenger seat and shut the door behind her before I had even removed the keys from the ignition.

She waited for me until I joined her standing in front of the car, facing the market and then she reached over and took my hand in hers. She smiled up at me and squeezed my fingers reassuringly.

"Everything's gonna be fine."

The store was almost deserted at 6am, just the soft music playing and the occasional beep of an item being rung up at the registers. When we had both used the bathroom we wandered the aisles aimlessly for a few minutes.

"Think she'll be happy to see us?" Renesmee asked, reaching out and idly fingering a page of stickers hanging for display in the greeting cards aisle.

"Of course." I smiled down at her, "Just as happy as we'll be to see her. It's not like we wanted to leave her here."

"I didn't." The accusation was evident in her tone and she turned away from me, the hostility returning for just a second. It was going to take a long time for her to really forgive me for ripping her away from Marnie.

"I didn't either Ness." I reminded her, gently pulling her into my arms and enveloping her in a hug, "I did what I thought was right at the time. I'm sorry."

"I know."

To my surprise she didn't pull out of my embrace and we stood like that for a minute before she sighed and turned to look up at me with a shy smile on her face.

"We should probably ask someone for help now. We've put it off long enough."

I nodded my agreement and released her from my arms, reaching out for her hand again and letting her lead me to the front of the store. At the customer service desk there was a young woman we didn't recognize and so we approached her with hope.

"Hi, how can I help you?" The woman asked without looking up from the papers in front of her.

"We're actually looking for someone who lives in town. We're not sure where to find her because she's moved since the last time we were here and we were wondering if you knew her you might be able to tell us where to go?" Renesmee asked confidently.

The woman looked up and although we hadn't recognized her, the immediate flash of surprise that ran across her face could only mean she did recognize us.

"You're Isabella Jasper." Her eyes flickered to me, but she didn't address me at all, returning to Renesmee, "We went to school together."

"Um, yeah." Renesmee shifted her weight uncomfortably, gripping my hand as her confidence disappeared, "That's me."

"You disappeared. Everyone in town was devastated." There was a moment while she paused and again her eyes flickered to me and then back to Renesmee, "I didn't know you personally but you were class president. We all felt like we knew you somehow."

"I um…" Renesmee stuttered for a second, "There was a threat against my life and I had to disappear into witness protection for awhile. You never believe that stuff is real until it happens to you."

Renesmee tried to laugh at her own joke but it came out a little stiff. The young woman was still staring at Renesmee as if she was looking directly at a ghost.

"Um, ma'am, we're looking for Marnie Lucas. She was Isabella's foster mother when she lived here and we've sort of lost touch with her." I spoke up and for the first time the woman really turned to look at me, "Can you help us?"

"Oh, yeah." She nodded slowly, flickering her gaze back to Renesmee and then again up to me, "Marnie's house burnt down not too long after you guys disappeared and she moved to Bozeman. I'm not sure exactly where but my manager would know. He was one of the people who helped her out when she had nothing. She was devastated, first the disappearance and then the house…"

"Is your manager here right now?" I interrupted her, feeling Renesmee weaken at my side. It was hard enough on her, she didn't need to know more about how devastated Marnie had been too.

"Yeah, hold on."

I finally took a glance at her nametag and saw her name was Susan. She picked up a phone from her desk and dialed. I would thank her for her help profusely if this actually worked and we found Marnie, but right now I had to focus on Renesmee.

"Hey, you okay?"

Renesmee looked up at me with sadness in her eyes but she nodded, holding herself together.

"I just worry about Marnie. I hope she's okay."

"We're gonna find out." I gently tugged on Renesmee's hand and she willingly came to me, wrapping her arms around my waist so I could hug her, "I'm sure she's fine. Marnie's strong, she always has been."

"Okay, this is her last known address." Susan hung up her phone and handed me a strip of white paper with a scrawled Bozeman address on it, "My manager said he hasn't talked to her in like a year though, so she might not be there anymore. Good luck."

"Thank you Susan." Renesmee smiled at the other young woman, "We appreciate your help."

Susan nodded, a slight smile spreading across her face as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"I'm glad you're okay. When you disappeared we all feared that something horrible had happened to you. Your best friend, Erin, she put up missing persons posters for months hoping someone would know where you were."

Renesmee sighed.

"If you see her, please tell her I'm okay."

Before Susan could continue with more stories of the devastation we had caused in our absence, I thanked her for the information again and led Renesmee from the store to her car. When she was safely in the passenger seat I jumped into the driver's seat and pulled us out of the parking lot and away from the store, getting back on the highway the way we had come. Bozeman was just a 15 minute drive back the way we had come.

"I'm nervous." Renesmee admitted as we drove. She was fidgeting and wringing her hands together in her lap, "What if she doesn't want to see us?"

"Marnie? Not want to see you?" I glanced over at her with a smile, "Marnie loves you Nessie. She'll want to see you."

I made sure to stress to her that it was her that Marnie would definitely want to see because if I was honest, I was worried that Marnie wouldn't want to see me. After all, I was the one who had ruined her life. I had taken Renesmee from her. She had lost her home and she had moved to a different city because of my decision. In fact, I was fairly certain she wouldn't want me anywhere near her.

"What are you thinking?" Renesmee asked quietly.

"Marnie." I answered honestly, "Just thinking about Marnie."

She smiled and nodded, reaching out and placing her fingertips against my cheek. She showed me a few memories she had of the times we had spent with Marnie then abruptly snapped her hand back.

"You're driving. Probably shouldn't impede your vision."

I laughed and shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess. It's weird though, you're visions are so clear but they're like a film over my surroundings. I can still see what's going on around me."

"Yeah?" Renesmee grinned, "Sometimes I wish I could do it to myself. That would be kind of pointless, I know, but to experience it. It'd be cool."

"It is cool." I agreed.

We drove the remainder of the way in silence. Renesmee was staring idly out the window, drawing circles with her index finger on the glass. She didn't finally look back at me until we had pulled into a small parking space in front of the gated apartment community. Her eyes were filled with nervousness and excitement.

"Come on." I motioned for her to get out of the car, "Let's go see if we can find Marnie."

"How do we get in?" Renesmee looked at the fence separating us from the parking lot and the actual apartments, "We can jump over for sure but that might be slightly suspicious."

"Plus we don't even know if she still lives here." I pulled Renesmee to a small automated box near the main gate, "Maybe we should check huh?"

We scrolled through the list of names, looking for any name that even resembled Marnie's name, unsure if she may have changed it to protect herself in our absence. When we got to the last name on the list and came up empty handed, Renesmee's shoulder slumped in discouragement.

"Now what?" She sighed turning to me and letting her head fall against my chest.

"Excuse me. Can I help you with something?" A female voice came from a few feet away, calling out to us as we stood in front of the gated entrance to the complex.

Renesmee and I both looked up at the same time, turning our attention to the person speaking to us. I could feel the energy suddenly zing through Renesmee's entire body as she took a quick gasp of air into her lungs.

"Jake? Nessie?" The woman's eyes immediately filled with tears.

"Marnie!"


	12. Identity: Chapter Eleven

**_Author's Note: Wow, I think this is the shortest time period in between updates that has happened in a LONNNNNNNG time, lol. First, want to thank my reviewers. AugustFirst, you ROCK. That's all I will say except THANK YOU for your constructive criticism. I needed that. BIG thank you to jenandcaralovetwilight4eva, ilove twilight, Annn, rockiestwitwin, luv2beloved and TeamAliceCullen for reading and reviewing and giving me your ideas for the future (if you don't know yet, that's okay. feel free to let me know if you think of something). _**

**_All that being said, I kind of feel like this chapter is sort of filler, but it is necessary filler in my opinion and the NEXT chapter is FORKS, so prepare yourself! I'm off to write that excitement... you all, please read, review and enjoy. :) Thx.  
_**

**Chapter Eleven**

**Renesmee POV**

I couldn't believe my eyes. Marnie, the only mother I'd had for so much of my life, was standing right in front of me. Was I dreaming? Had I figured out a way to use my visions on myself? Was this just an illusion?

No, it couldn't be an illusion. She had changed. Her once bright eyes were dim, tired, and currently filled with tears. She looked older, still youthful, but aged. Her hair was piled on her head like it had been the day I first met her, but even like that I could tell she had cut it. Her long brown curls would now be just barely skimming the top of her shoulders if she let her hair down. She wore no jewelry. Her clothes were worn out, the sandals on her feet tattered and she had just a single bag of groceries in her hand.

"Marnie!" I squealed, running into her arms, knocking the bag of groceries to the floor as I enveloped her in my embrace, "Oh my God, Marnie. I missed you so much. I'm so sorry we left you. You know I didn't want to go and I'm so glad you're okay. You're okay right? Is everything okay? Did anyone ever come after you? How are you?"

"Ness…" Jacob gently pulled on my elbow, forcing me to take a step back and look Marnie over again.

The tears were falling freely from her eyes now and her mouth was open, like she wanted to say something but couldn't. I wanted to hug her again but Jacob kept a firm grip on my elbow, holding me back. He must have sensed what I couldn't in the moment which was that Marnie was overwhelmed.

"Just give her a second Ness." Jacob whispered quietly into my ear, "She's shocked. Just give her a second."

"How? You're… when? Why? What…" Marnie started to take quick shallow breaths through her tears as she sputtered out her words and very quickly she was hyperventilating.

"Marnie." Jacob released me and quickly went to Marnie's side, scooping her up into his arms as if she were a child, "Nessie, grab her keys. Open the gate. We need to get her inside."

I did exactly as I was told, grabbing the keys from where they were linked to Marnie's belt loop and after only one failed attempt, correctly located the key to the gate, swinging it open for Jacob and Marnie to enter with ease. The forgotten groceries were left scattered on the parking lot asphalt.

"What apartment do you live in Marnie?" Jacob asked calmly, looking down at Marnie who was still breathing shallowly in his arms, "Marnie?"

"12." She managed to whisper.

The apartment was on the upper level, in the nearest building to us and we sprinted up the stairs faster than humanly possible. I had the key in the lock and the door opened before anyone would have even been able to see us, and Jake carried Marnie inside, setting her gently on the couch he found in the main room.

The apartment was small, the entire thing could have fit into the living room of the house we had all lived in back in Belgrade. There was a tiny kitchen with a built in bar counter where two bar stools sat. It was attached to the main living room, which was sparsely decorated or furnished. One couch, one chair and a TV. No rugs, no tables, no lamps. Just an overhead light attached to the ceiling fan.

There was no art on the walls, or anywhere that I could see. A quick glance down the short hallway told me there was one bedroom which looked to contain a bed and dresser, not much else, and one bathroom.

I managed to hold in the tears I wanted to cry for the loss of such an immaculate life Marnie had lived before we had left her. She had truly lost everything. No wonder she was hyperventilating. For her, our return probably made her wonder what else we were going to take from her. She had nothing left.

"Marnie. It's okay. Breathe. You have to breath or you're going to pass out." Jacob squatted in front of the couch, looking directly into Marnie's eyes, "Breathe please. Everything's okay. You're gonna be okay."

From my vantage near the front door, I saw her eyes flutter shut and for a second I thought we had lost her. That somehow just our return had ended it for her and her life had ceased. Two full seconds passed before she took a slow, deep breath in and then her breathing began to even out. Her eyes opened again and she reached her hand out to caress Jacob's cheek.

"I can't believe you're here." She whispered very quietly, "Am I dreaming?"

"No." Jacob smiled at her, taking her hand from his cheek and holding it tightly between both of his, "We're really here."

"Renesmee." Marnie turned, searching the room with her eyes to locate me.

"I'm here."

Without a second's hesitation I was squatted next to Jacob, smiling at Marnie as she smiled back at me. Jacob released her hand and Marnie threw both her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug.

"My beautiful girl. Oh I missed you so much."

I let a few tears fall as I hugged her back.

"I missed you too. So, so much. I'm so sorry. You've lost everything and it's all my fault."

Marnie pulled back abruptly, placing a hand firmly on each of my cheeks. She forced me to stare into her eyes and she shook her head.

"I lost nothing that matters except for you and now that you're here, nothing else matters. Understand me?"

"But this place." I motioned to the sparse decorations and the ratty furniture, "You're home was so beautiful and all because of me and that stupid vampire at school, you live here, in this dump."

"Honey." Marnie pulled me closer, resting her forehead against mine, "None of that matters as long as you're here. Nothing matters."

My tears escaped again as I began to nod and she did too, our foreheads moving in synchronization together.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're here and you're safe. I'm sorry I lost it for a second." Marnie pulled me in for another hug and I could feel her reach out with one of her hands for Jacob.

The three of us were connected in one embrace and we stayed that way for several silent minutes before Marnie pulled back and her look turned serious.

"Now, what are you doing here?"

Jacob and I spent the better part of two hours explaining to Marnie all that had happened in the past four years. We told her where we had run to and explained that no one had ever come to find us. I showed her through visions my high school experience and all that I had gone through there, with the family who had taken me in and I made sure to show her how much I had missed her the whole time.

"But wait…" Marnie removed my fingers from her face and frowned, looking back and forth between Jacob and I, "Jake's not in any of these memories. Show me what you guys have been doing together."

Jacob and I looked at each other, he frowned and a look of sadness washed over his face. I sighed and turned back to Marnie.

"Um, Jake and I stopped talking for most of the past four years actually."

"What?" Marnie exclaimed loudly, "No, that's not possible. You guys are inseparable. Why? What would make you do something like that?"

I felt all my feelings of resentment and anger towards Jacob rising and I could feel my face harden with the emotions. I looked Marnie directly in the eyes and told her simply.

"He took me away from you."

I didn't dare look at Jacob. I could feel the painful energy resonating from him and I saw reflecting in Marnie's eyes when she looked at him the hurt that was etched on his face. She looked from him to me and back to him again, both of us unable to look at the other. I watched her face soften as she sighed.

"Nessie, he did it for your own good. For my own good. For all of us. He was trying to keep us safe." She said quietly.

"We were safe." I declared, "Nothing ever came after any of us. I could have just graduated Dartmouth instead of some stupid hick high school in some stupid town with some stupid people that I don't care about at all. But no, we had to run, again, like we always do and I'm done with it. I was done with it four years ago. Done with HIM four years ago."

All the progress we had made over the past few days together flew out the window in one rushed breath. I could sense the air leaving Jacob's lungs and I could imagine he probably felt like I had punched him in the stomach. Verbally, I had. I hit him right where it hurt and I didn't care. Seeing Marnie, broken, in this place, it all came back to me. We should have never left her.

"So then why are you two here, now, together?" Marnie questioned pointedly.

There was silence for a second and I dared a glance over at Jacob. I could see he was still in pain. His face was crumpled.

"Well, he came to me." I said quietly, raising my hand to Marnie's cheek, showing her instead of speaking the words. My compassion had returned and I knew that keeping the conversation between Marnie and I would hurt Jacob less.

"Jake, can you give us a moment alone?" Marnie asked after the vision ended.

"Yeah, I'll um, I'll just be right outside." Jacob stood, glancing in my direction, and then he was gone.

Even though I knew he was right outside I almost panicked for a second. Watching him leave a room without me was never going to get any easier for me.

"Can he hear us?" Marnie asked quietly, as soon as the front door shut behind Jacob.

"Probably." I admitted, looking towards the door.

"Go away Jake." Marnie said normally and though we couldn't hear him outside, I knew he would have heard and done as he was told, "Okay, now listen to me."

I took a deep breath and nodded, ready to take in whatever she had to say.

"That boy loves you. More than he needs to eat, breathe or live, he needs you. His world literally revolves around you. Do you understand that?"

"Yes." I said simply, "It's the wolfy imprinting thing."

We had explained this to her once but I wasn't sure she remembered how it worked.

"It's more than that Renesmee. I get the imprinting thing. I'm not sure exactly how it works but what I do know I get it and how he feels about you is so much more than an imprint that he can't control. What he did, four years ago, was for our own good. Everything happens for a reason and maybe we can't understand it right now, but it will all work out in the end."

"It's hard Marnie." I let a few tears that I hadn't realized I was holding back slip down my cheek, "I don't know how to forgive him from breaking our family apart. He knew that all I had ever wanted was a real family and we had it and he ripped it up."

"But we have it back Nessie. Look, I'm here. You're here. Jake's here. Our family is still a family. And now you get to go back to Forks and see your Grandpa Charlie. I know how much you've missed him and how happy you are to go back to Forks."

"I'm scared too." I admitted, "I don't know what to expect. I don't know if Grandpa Charlie is even still alive and I don't know how the town has changed since I was little." I paused, "I wanna see my home. The house where I was born and where we lived but, I don't know what's going to be there now. Uninhabited for almost 16 years, abandoned, in every sense of the word. Or maybe after they killed my family, the Volturi disposed of the house too. I just don't know."

"It's okay to be nervous Renesmee. There are a lot of unknowns going back to the town you were born in but that's what Jake is here for. He's your moral support. He's there to stand behind you 100% of the time."

"Except when he goes against my every wish and takes me away from you." I contradicted.

"Except when your wishes and what is best for you are two different things." Marnie smiled, "We all lost a lot that day, but as long as all three of us are still alive, we haven't lost anything really. We still have each other."

"You lost your home. Wait… what did happen to the house? Am I wrong? Did someone come after you after all?" Suddenly it occurred to me that there was a variable here that I didn't understand, "How did it burn down?"

"I set fire to it." Marnie said simply, "Jacob told me that I had to start over. I couldn't take anything from the house with me. He said it had to be a clean break, remember?"

I remembered like it was yesterday. The night we had all been torn apart.

"But burn it down?"

"I couldn't sell it. It would have taken too long and what if the vampire came back to the house when a new family was living there and killed them instead? I wouldn't be able to live with myself. The quickest, easiest way to dispose of it was to burn it. I packed a suitcase of just the very few things that I knew I couldn't live without and told everyone I was leaving town to look for you. I was a mess. I missed you guys and I didn't know what to do. Everyone was being so helpful but that just made it harder on me so I created a cover and then set a slow untraceable fire before leaving town. When I came back I acted devastated, which wasn't really that hard to act, because I was devastated. Then I moved here."

"I just can't get past what we all lost that night Marnie. That's why I'm having such a hard time forgiving Jake. I know I need him in my life because without him, life is unbearable. These past four years, I knew he was there. I refused to talk to him or see him or have anything to do with him, but I knew he was there. If he wasn't there, I wouldn't know how to live but at the same time." I let my voice trail off, "I don't know how it's possible for us to get back to where we were."

"No one said you have to go back to how things were." Marnie smiled, caressing my cheek gently, "Learn from what's happened. Trust Jacob is always going to do what's best for you because deep down, he always knows what's best for you, even if it hurts sometimes. And once you accept that, you'll have a new beginning. It won't be the same, but it'll still be great."

There was a quiet knock on the door and then Jacob stepped inside hesitantly.

"Sorry to bother you guys. I was gonna go get us something to eat. I'm starved. You hungry?"

"I can cook." Marnie insisted, "I miss cooking for you guys."

She stood up suddenly and slightly wobbled, Jake and I immediately both at her side to steady her.

"It's okay guys. Just a slight bobble." Marnie smiled at us both, "Sit, relax. You don't have to leave immediately do you?"

"We have all summer." I said quickly, "I report to Dartmouth in mid-September and the only thing on our plate between now and then is you and Forks, right Jake?"

Jacob nodded but I could see in his eyes the hurt was still resonating from my words just a few minutes before. We had been making progress and I ripped it all away. The guilt washed over me immediately.

"Good. Sit. I'll cook." Marnie headed for the tiny kitchen and started banging things around as she readied to cook a meal. I wondered if it would be the first meal she cooked for someone other than herself from that kitchen, but I dismissed the depressing thought and turned my attention to Jacob instead.

He stood near the hallway, running his fingers along the wall, inspecting the paint as if he was going try to replicate each brush stroke. He was obviously trying to avoid me or maybe he was just giving me space.

"Jake." I whispered to him, quiet enough that Marnie wouldn't hear us.

He looked up and over at me but didn't move.

"Come here." I patted the seat next to where I was sitting on the couch and he slowly obeyed, joining me on the worn out piece of furniture.

We sat in silence for a second as he picked nervously at the fabric of his jeans. I had never noticed he had a nervous tick but he sure seemed to be fidgeting a lot.

"I'm sorry." I whispered again, glancing up to the kitchen to make sure Marnie was still occupied, "I shouldn't have said those things earlier. I don't mean to keep hurting you and holding a grudge for everything that happened four years ago. You did what you had to do. I am still very hurt and yes, there's still anger but I am trying to let it go so I shouldn't keep saying things that hurt you. I guess it's a sign of my true age."

He smiled. It was a weak smile but a smile nonetheless.

"Do you forgive me?"

Jake looked over at me and nodded.

"One of us has to be forgiving right?" I knew he was joking so I smiled at him.

"I am trying Jake. I promise I'll try harder okay?"

His answer was to pull me into a tight hug and kiss the top of my head.

"That's all I can ask for and honestly Nessie, I know how hard it is for you to forgive me because I have a hard time forgiving myself. I'll be working on forgiving me long after you've already let it go."

I didn't know how to answer that. I didn't want him to beat himself up. I was beating him up enough. But I couldn't say it was okay. There was still too much resentment and pain. I let him hold me for awhile longer though. Being in his arms again was nice.

"I don't have any red meat." Marnie looked over the bar counter at us from the kitchen, "I'm not sure what to make you that you'll actually eat Nessie."

Jacob released me from his embrace and we both turned to look back at her.

"You can make whatever you want Marnie. I eat human food now."

Her mouth fell open in shock. Jacob laughed loudly.

"I've seen it. You should see this girl down an entire cheeseburger, fries, salad and shake in no time at all. She's a machine." Jacob told her.

"How is that even possible? I…" Marnie trailed off, "Forget it. I don't wanna know why. I'm just gonna cook and maybe, finally, you will actually appreciate my cooking."

I grinned from ear to ear, thoroughly happy to have Marnie's cooking back. And I was happy to eat every meal she cooked us for the next month after that as our time with her in Bozeman continued.

We did things as a family like shopping, visiting museums, watching movies and even hitting the Gallatin County Fair. With each day we were together, a little more of the light returned to her eyes. She started painting again and with our help, the tiny apartment she rented started to look more like a tiny home. There was color, character and decent furniture.

It was mid-July before the subject of moving on towards Forks ever came up. It was a day much like every day and Marnie was in the kitchen making sandwiches for us to eat for lunch. Jacob and I were sitting on the couch, our feet propped on the coffee table. He held tightly to the television remote while I had my nose buried in the newest book I had borrowed from the local library.

"Nessie." Jacob interrupted my reading.

I lowered the book and turned to look at him.

"Yes?"

He smiled at the formal way I responded and rolled his eyes.

"I've been thinking."

"Uh-oh. Stop the presses. Jacob Black has been thinking." I leaned forward and set the book on the coffee table then turned, crossing my legs in front of me and setting my chin on my hands so he knew he had my full attention, "Just what have you been thinking about exactly?"

"Smart ass." He teased me, pushing my hands from underneath my chin so I fell forward momentarily, "Seriously."

"Okay, seriously." I nodded, ready to listen.

"When are we gonna head to Forks?" He asked and I sighed.

"I don't know Jake. I don't wanna leave Marnie alone again." I looked up at my foster mother and smiled as she hummed and pranced around the kitchen, "She's happy."

"So am I and so are you. I can tell." He paused and I wondered what he was thinking about as he wiped a strand of my hair from my face, "So that's where the thinking comes in."

I nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"Maybe we can ask her to go with us."

My brain processed the idea in milliseconds. It was the best thing Jake had ever come up with. It was literally the greatest idea since sliced bread.

"That's fantastic. You're serious? You think she'll go? Will she want to?"

"I don't know." Jacob continued, "But we can ask and the worse that can happen is she says no and we make a decision on what we do next. Honestly Nessie, we're in a pretty perfect situation. We have nowhere we HAVE to be, just places we want to be. And if you want to stay here with Marnie until we have to get you to Dartmouth, we can make the trip to Forks later. If you want to go to Forks now and then go to Dartmouth, we can do that too. We could even go to Forks then come back here and then go to Dartmouth. We have all the options in the world."

"Do you want chips?" Marnie called out to us from the kitchen.

"Yes please!" Jacob and I yelled back in perfect unison.

"Ranch or barbecue?"

"Barbecue!" We both yelled again.

We laughed for a second at our synchronization and then went back to brainstorming.

"If she won't go, then I say we leave here at the end of the month and go to Forks. That gives us plenty of time to go there and still get to Dartmouth on time. Not that I want to leave Marnie ever again but, at least this time we can keep in touch and it won't be losing her but rather just going to college. I'll be a normal teenager for once."

"Okay." Jacob agreed easily, "That sounds like a good plan."

"Here you go you two." Marnie entered the room and handed each of us a plate with a sandwich and chips, "Eat up."

"Actually Marnie, can we talk to you about something?" I set my food on the table in front of me and motioned for Marnie to come sit on the couch between Jacob and I, "Please?"

Marnie frowned suspiciously but complied and took her seat on the couch. Jacob and I both turned towards her and she looked back and forth between us, anticipating where the conversation might go.

"We have a proposition for you." Jacob started.

"A good one." I interjected.

"Yeah, a good proposition." Jacob continued, "Well, see, we were thinking that it might be time for us to head out to Forks since that was the main purpose of our trip this summer but, we didn't want to just leave you here because we're really enjoying being a family again so, we were hoping that you would agree to go with us to Forks."

"It'll be really awesome." I continued Jacob's proposal as Marnie turned to me with wide eyes, "There's still like 14 hours to drive from here until we get there. We have road trip music on my Ipod and we'll sing along and have fun and it'll just be really, really fun."

Marnie was surprised, to put it mildly. You could see the shock registered in her eyes and in her lowered jaw.

"I don't know what to say guys." She said after a few moments of silence, "I mean, there's a lot to think about with that proposition. I would love to go with you but there's this apartment to think about and then you're going to see your Grandpa Charlie and how do you explain me to him? What about after the trip? Can you bring me back here or are you going straight to Dartmouth?"

"No offense, but this is a crap apartment." Jake answered the first part of her question, "We can get you a better one or maybe plans will change? We don't really know what to expect in Forks and we don't have plans for after because we don't know what will happen while we're there so, basically we would be asking you to…"

"Go with the flow." I finished his sentence for him and grinned widely at Marnie, "Just come with us. You really have nothing keeping you here right and we're a family, the three of us. We want you with us."

I squeezed her hand which rested on her lap and she smiled over at me happily. There was a light in her eyes as she debated silently for a few minutes.

Jacob looked over her head at me and flashed me a toothy grin. He must have had the same gut feeling I did which was that Marnie was going to say yes. She was going to agree to go to Forks with us.

"Okay." She finally said which elicited loud, boisterous hollers from both Jacob and I.

Marnie giggled and covered her ears as both Jacob and I yelled loudly, attacking her and hugging her from both sides. She was squished in a mythical creature sandwich but I could tell from her contented sigh she was enjoying it. Our family was reunited finally.

We were going to travel to Forks together where I would finally be able to get a little bit of closure on the life I had lost when I was just a baby. Or at least I hoped I would get some closure. If I was being honest, Jacob had said it best. _"We don't really know what to expect in Forks." _But no matter what, it was going to be an adventure.


	13. Identity: Chapter Twelve

_**Author's Note: Thank you to all of you for the amazing reviews! luv2beloved, jenandcaralovetwilight4eva, elliemae13 (retrowaffle), JacobBlackLuver95, Joelle, RobertForLife and TeamAlice Cullen, you all rock my world, seriously! **_

_**This next chapter, unlike the previous chapters, does not have a POV. It's done just like it's being told by a narrator so hopefully you're not confused. I just thought it would be best for what happens here that it be sort of unbiased. I hope you all enjoy! I can't believe I'm updating this quickly and probably neither can you. OMG! LOL**_

_**Also, there are some italics down there. They are lyrics to a song called The House That Built Me by Miranda Lambert. **_

_**Read on and enjoy! :) As always, reviews=happy me.  
**_

**Chapter Twelve**

The 101 Highway into Forks was sparsely lit and surrounded on either side by plush greenery and forest. It was the dark hour just before dawn as Jacob drove Renesmee's black Audi Q7 southbound, just a few miles outside of the small town. Both Renesmee and Marnie slept peacefully, Renesmee curled up in the passenger seat and Marnie stretched across the back seat.

Jacob sighed as the familiar roads unfolded beneath the tires. He sent a wistful glance westward as he passed the exit to La Push and continued on. Just a few more miles and they would be back in Forks. For the time being it would just be a drive through, but nevertheless, Jacob could feel the familiarity creep into his bones, even after so many years of being gone. He knew the entire area like the back of hand. The sights, smells and even tastes of the land around him. He was home.

Jacob, Renesmee and Marnie had spent several hours of the trip trying to decide the best plan of attack for what they felt they needed to accomplish while they visited. Charlie Swan was a big priority and Jacob, as painful as it would be, wanted to take a trip to the reservation he had once called home. He had to see for himself what was left of the place. Renesmee felt the same about the home she had been born in. She felt the need, as painful as it would be, to go there, and see it.

So they had created a plan. First thing they would do is visit the Cullen home. They had no idea what would be there or if anything would still stand where the magnificent house had once been. Jacob and Renesmee were forced to admit they knew little of what had happened in this place after they had left. Had the Volturi burnt the home after killing her family? Would they have raided it for the valuable possessions and left the rest in ruins? There were so many possibilities but all were pretty grim. With the knowledge that the Cullens were dead, they didn't have much hope for the house Renesmee had once called home.

After visiting the Cullen home, they would split up. For Jacob, this was going to be the hardest part. He had absolutely no inkling to leave Renesmee and Marnie alone, at any time, for any reason, but he also knew that people in Forks might recognize him, and that would only cause problems. It had been 16 years since he had stepped foot in that town, or the surrounding area, and he hadn't aged a day. That might be suspicious, so Renesmee and Marnie were going to find Charlie. Jacob was going to head to the reservation.

The Cullen home was on the outskirts of Forks but the drive through town and up the windy back roads wouldn't take long. Jacob glanced over at Renesmee, peaceful, her head resting on top of her arm which was against the window of the passenger seat. A slight smile played on her features and he smiled, glad that her dreams seemed to be making her happy. He hated to wake her, but since they were so close, he figured it was time.

"Nessie." Jacob ran his hand gently over her cheek and she stirred slightly, sighing before letting her eyes flutter open, "Hey, we're just a few miles outside of town. Might wanna wake up Marnie."

"What time is it?" Renesmee asked, yawning and stretching at the same time.

Jacob grinned at her muffled words, even though he understood them.

"It's just about 5:00AM." He responded.

The sun was just beginning to rise, mostly blocked by the never ending cloud cover that always plagued Forks. Just a few rays managed to sneak through, their rainbow lighting illuminating the leaves of the trees ahead.

"Too early." Renesmee grumbled, closing her eyes and snuggling into the seat again, "No awake."

Jacob laughed again, shaking her slightly.

"Come on sleepy head. We're almost," He paused, unsure of what to call the Cullen house now, "We're almost to our first destination."

Renesmee sighed again and turned to face him. The smile from her sleep had been replaced by a frown.

"What if I changed my mind? What if I don't wanna see it?" She asked quietly.

Jacob pondered her question carefully before answering.

"If you don't want to see it, then we won't go there. But Ness, you should see it. It's hard. I know, trust me. But you'll have Marnie and I with you the whole time okay? You can break down, cry, scream, anything you want. But, just maybe this will help to heal some of the past. Doesn't it feel to you like we've been holding on to Forks all these years as sort of, a crutch? Maybe this is going to give us both the chance to heal and move forward."

She didn't look like she was convinced but she nodded slowly, pulling her knees to her chest and turning to look into the backseat.

"Marnie." Renesmee called out quietly, "Marnie? We're almost there. Gotta wake up."

As Jacob turned the car onto the long winding driveway that would lead up to the house, Marnie rose and straightened herself up, Renesmee explaining to her where they were.

The trees weren't overgrown up the drive as one would have expected an abandoned road to be. They actually seemed trimmed, groomed, and well taken care of, which puzzled Jacob as they got closer to the house.

It appeared out of nowhere, as it always did. Almost as if it were invisible until you were right there upon it. The sprawling, three story white house, with all it's windows and doors never ceased to take away the breath of those who were seeing it for the first time. Marnie gasped at it's beauty but had just a second to take it in before the car had suddenly stopped and then reversed, back down the driveway away from the home.

"Jake, what the hell?" Marnie was clutching her chest, not usually one to cuss but scared immensely from his sudden actions.

"There's someone here." He parked the car to the side of the road, just east of the beginning of the driveway, as much off the road as he could without damaging the car or driving it right into the forest.

"What?" Marnie exclaimed.

Jacob and Renesmee didn't answer. They both had their seatbelts off and were jumping out of the car.

"Stay here." Jacob ordered Renesmee when they were both standing by the hood.

"No way." Renesmee countered, "I smelled and heard them the same as you. There are people in that house and I'm going with you to find out who they are."

"Renesmee, get in the car. Stay here with Marnie." Jacob tried the order again, with more emphasis as he glanced up the road to the house as if they were going to be discovered and attacked at any moment, "Now."

"No." Renesmee objected again, "You stay with Marnie. This is MY house. I'm going."

"Excuse me." Marnie stepped out of the car and interrupted the stand off, "What is going on? Explain that before you both go running off to the house okay? How do you know there are people here?"

"We smelled them." Jacob answered, his eyes not leaving Renesmee, "Acute sense of smell and hearing. Probably would have heard and smelled them earlier if I had been paying attention."

"Okay, and who are they?"

"Don't know." Renesmee made sure her eyes stayed trained on Jacob as she answered Marnie's questions as well, "We're gonna have to go up there, on foot, and check things out. There shouldn't be anyone here. My family is dead. By all accounts, this house should be mine and since I'm not living there, there should be no one there."

"Well you're not leaving me in the car alone. I'm going too."

"NO!" They both yelled in unison, four eyes suddenly trained on Marnie intently.

"Renesmee is going to stay here with you." Jacob said.

"I am not." Renesmee insisted, groaned, "Jacob, my house. My right to go. You stay here with Marnie."

"I am not letting you go to that house, unprotected, like a lamb to the slaughter! We have no idea who those people are!"

"They're humans." Renesmee said as if that made all the difference in the world.

Marnie didn't think it mattered but suddenly Jacob's face changed.

"You smelled them too Jake. You heard their heartbeats and their footsteps, making the coffee and taking a shower. Early morning routine of your average, everyday human being. They can't hurt me."

"I can't let you go alone." Jacob pleaded with Renesmee with his eyes, "And we can't leave Marnie here alone or let her be put in harms way so what do we do?"

They were at an impasse.

Renesmee hesitated, but only for a fraction of a second. She was glad that Jacob wasn't her father in that particular moment, so he had no idea what she was thinking. She took off towards the house, running at full speed, leaving Jacob to make the choice. Let her go alone, follow and leave Marnie alone or follow and bring Marnie with. No matter what, Renesmee was getting what she wanted.

She hesitated as the house came back into view, turning back to see if Jacob had followed. She couldn't hear him or Marnie, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be right behind her in just a few moments. She almost wished he had followed as suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to be able to hide behind his towering figure instead of face her demons head on.

The house hadn't changed much in 16 years. It had been repainted, the same shade of white it was before, sticking to the original color scheme. She could see inside the house from a nearby window and it looked like much of the inside had stayed the same as well. There was different artwork on the wall, but the furniture was all the same, at least as far as she could tell.

She hadn't used her strength or agility to it's full ability in awhile and she wondered if things like that weakened without use. It took her a minute, while she hid in the bushes, to calculate her next move.

"Don't ever do that to me again." Jacob growled, suddenly appearing from the woods behind her.

Renesmee had heard him before he was there, so she wasn't surprised, but he really did sound angry. She cringed but didn't turn around.

"You can't always protect me Jake. Sometimes you have to let me do things my way."

"Next time I'm chaining you to a tree." He exhaled slowly, his body shaking from his irritation and anger at the stunt she had pulled.

"Hopefully we'll do this right the first time and there won't be a next time." Renesmee risked a glance over her shoulder at him, sighing before turning around completely and pulling Jacob into a comfortable hug, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have run off like that. I'm glad you came after me."

"Brat." He teased, the anger ebbing as he held her in his arms, "I guess this is what happens when you're raised by a wolf who imprinted on you. Spoiled rotten."

Renesmee giggled, glad to finally have some familiarity and comfort back with Jacob. She had been working so hard to let her resentment go and to get back the relationship she had once had with her best friend. She was about to respond to his comment when the front door of the house opened, reminding them both why they were here. They crouched, taking a couple steps backwards even further into the woods where they could watch without being detected.

"Have a good day at work."

An adult male exited the house, kissing his wife's cheek softly before walking briskly to the far end of the driveway where he slid into the driver's seat of a sleek silver Volvo. Ironic that his car would be an updated version of the same one Edward used to drive. Renesmee whimpered and Jacob squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"He's gonna see our car when they drive out." Renesmee suddenly panicked, looking towards the road as the man in his car passed the spot where they were hiding.

Jacob shook his head.

"I sent Marnie back into town. Told her all she had to do was drive the 101 straight back and she'd hit Forks in no time. She's gonna go to the diner and get breakfast. You'll meet her there when we're done here."

Renesmee's panic subsided and her attention turned back to the woman standing in the doorway. She looked to be about 40 with stick straight blonde hair that hung to her shoulders. She stayed in the doorway for a few minutes, watching her husband drive away, as if she suspected he wouldn't come back. The look in her eyes was sad and for a moment, Renesmee wanted nothing more than to know why the woman was so upset.

"We should go around the back. Stick to the trees and observe for a little while before we try to get closer. Maybe the rest of the family will leave and we'll have a chance to explore without worrying about their presence." Jacob suggested.

The woman finally turned and went back inside, closing and locking the door behind her. They heard her hit the buttons on a security panel inside, alarming the house, and then listened as she padded to the kitchen. The aroma of coffee mixed with the trees and crisp air wafting towards Renesmee and Jacob. Upstairs they could hear the soft snores and regular breathing of two children asleep. The rest of the house was quiet.

Renesmee agreed to Jacob's plan and they raced through the forest silently, headed for the tree cover behind the house so they could continue to watch.

Since the back wall of the house was entirely made of glass, they had a much better view from here, watching as the mother flitted about her daily duties. It was still early but she was already loading laundry into a washing machine as she sipped her coffee. There were curtains drawn on a few of the upstairs rooms, probably the rooms where the kids were sleeping, but other than that Renesmee had a clear view to see that the house really did seem to be almost unchanged.

Other than the addition of beds into a few of the rooms, all the furniture was the same. The books, artwork, things that would have meant something to her family; those things were all missing, but anything without sentimental value was still in place. Almost 16 years later, and the house was much as she remembered it.

She didn't have the courage to speak, so Renesmee lifted her fingers to Jacob's face and communicated with him what she was seeing. Everything the same, nothing changed, except the occupants.

After 30 minutes of observing silently, and nothing happening in the house except for a change from laundry to baking, Renesmee groaned.

"We don't have all day to just sit around and watch. Marnie is alone in a town she's never seen before. We're waiting for what exactly?"

Jacob hesitated.

"I don't know." He admitted, "I guess I wanted them to leave so we could go inside."

"It's barely 5:30 in the morning, maybe 6:00 now." Renesmee looked around using the sun to judge the time of day, "Unless those kids upstairs are very small, they're not waking up anytime soon. And judging from the text message tone I hear continually going off from one of those upstairs rooms, I'm guessing they're teens. So they'll sleep until noon before racing to find their friends and do whatever it is that normal teenagers do in the summertime and honestly Jake, I'm not willing to wait around until noon."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Jacob raised his eyebrows at her, knowing she would have a response immediately.

"I suggest I go knock on the front door. They don't know me. It's not a risk. I can tell the truth. I used to live here. I just wanted to see the house because it's been a long time. Either she'll let me in or she won't. You stay here and watch. I'll signal you if I need rescue."

Jacob wrinkled his nose but he couldn't disagree. He didn't like it, but it was the only plan they had and it was better than breaking and entering. He nodded and waved her off to the front of the house.

"Go. Let's get this done. Find out whatever you can about how they acquired the house."

Renesmee nodded and then she was off, darting again through the trees as she made her way back towards the front door.

She went a bit out of her way, heading back down the driveway towards the highway before she emerged from the woods, in case there were security cameras and it would seem weird that a girl just showed up on property from amidst the trees.

She walked slowly down the driveway, again not wanting to attract unnecessary attention, just in case. Her heart raced, faster than it's normal fluttering beat, and she wrung her hands together, trying to rid herself of some of her nerves.

She was agile enough that the floorboards of the massive front porch didn't squeak beneath her weight as she took the steps quickly and then settled for knocking on the front door, rather than ringing the doorbell.

_I know they say you can't go home again_

_I just had to come back one last time_

_Ma'am I know you don't know me from Adam_

_But these handprints on the front steps are mine_

It was a few moments before Renesmee heard the falling steps of the mother coming to the front door, cracking it open slowly, clearly confused as to who might be on her front porch so early in the morning.

"Can I help you?" She asked hesitantly.

"Um, hi. I, well, my name is," Renesmee hesitated, unsure whether to lie or tell the truth, "My name is Carlie and I know you don't know me, but I used to live here, when I was little. And it's weird, I know, but I haven't seen the place in so long. I was just wondering if you would let me look around."

"Uh," The woman glanced upstairs, clearly worried about her children. She looked Renesmee over again, sizing up the girl in front of her, trying to figure out if she was a threat, "Yeah, okay. Come on in."

_I thought if I could touch this place or feel it_

_This brokenness inside me might start healing_

_Out here it's like I'm someone else_

_I thought that maybe I could find myself_

_If I could just come in I swear I'll leave_

_Won't take nothing but a memory_

_From the house that built me_

Renesmee took a deep breath as she took her first step into the home she hadn't seen in over 15 years. She had been right from her observations. Nothing had really changed. The furniture was all the same, even the grand piano that her father used to play. Family photos now hung where art work had once been. There were small things, the type of things that would make a house a home, but for the most part, Renesmee was instantly transported back to the days when her family had lived her. When she herself had been just a baby and the rooms had all been filled with so much love. A single tear fell down her cheek.

"So, what did you say your name was?" The woman asked as she watched Renesmee wipe away the tears.

"Oh, um, Carlie." Renesmee lied, turning and smiling at the woman, "You?"

"Shauna." The woman smiled back, "You don't look much older than my kids and we've lived here since they were little. When did you say you lived here?"

"I was really little." Renesmee admitted, "15 years ago."

"Wow, and you remember it? You can't be more than 18."

Renesmee just smiled, not confirming or denying her age. She just nodded and took in the great room again, sighing.

"I definitely remember it."

This was where so much of her young life had happened. She had met her Grandpa Charlie for the first time in that very room. She was born upstairs and just outside of the side door was where the rock had been where she had watched her mom beat her Uncle Emmett at arm wrestling and then subsequently destroy the rock as if it were mush. She had taken her first steps here and hung out with her aunts, uncles, grandparents. It was such a short amount of life but so much had taken place so fast.

"When did you move here?" Renesmee asked Shauna, her thoughts returning to the present.

"Um, I guess it was about 10 years ago." Shauna replied, scratching her head, unsure of the exact date, "My son was 5 and my daughter was 3 so, yeah. 10 years ago."

Renesmee almost couldn't comprehend. 10 years? That was about 5 years after she left.

"And did you get a chance to meet the previous occupants?"

Shauna seemed puzzled by the questioning, but she answered.

"No, the house wasn't occupied for like 5 years before we moved in, so I guess your family was the last occupants before we moved in. The house was kept in spectacular condition though. All the furniture came with it and even being white, it was spotless when we moved in. There wasn't a speck of dust in the place. It was like someone had been keeping the house in perfect condition but not actually living in it." She paused, "Oh, is this the same furniture that was here when you lived here?"

Renesmee nodded, unsure of her voice.

"Yeah, it all belonged to my grandparents. We all lived here. My grandparents, two uncles, two aunts, my moth…" She choked a little on the words, "My mother and my father and I."

Shauna was quiet for what seemed like an eternity.

"I don't mean to pry Carlie but, why did you leave? You seem upset. Did you move away because something bad happened?"

She couldn't answer. The emotion was caught in her throat and the tears threatened to release like a waterfall down her face. She had no idea what she had expected when she came back here but it was all suddenly too much.

"Thank you for letting me see your home." Renesmee mumbled, the tears beginning to fall as she rushed from the room, out the front door and took off running, too fast, down the driveway to where it would meet the highway.

With her sight impaired by the tears falling, she didn't see Jacob before she ran directly into him, a brick wall, where she completely lost control, hysterical sobs wracking her body as she collapsed into his arms.

Without a second though, Jacob scooped her up and carried her back into the cover of the woods, finding a fallen tree where he sat and cradled her while she continued to cry.

"Shh, it's gonna be okay." He whispered into her hair, placing a kiss on the top of her head, "It's gonna be okay honey. You're okay."

The sobs continued, all the emotion draining from Renesmee's body as she seemed to become more and more limp in Jacob's arms. It was as if life itself was ceasing and she eventually just stopped. Her breathing evened but she didn't move. Jacob held her tight against his chest, her head cradled beneath his chin and his arms wrapped around her, rocking her.

"You're okay." He whispered again, moving slowly so he could look into her eyes, "You're okay."

It wasn't a question and she simply nodded, all the glitter and spark absent from her eyes. Her flawless skin couldn't even handle that amount of heartbreak. Red streaks stained her cheeks from where the tears had been flowing.

"You're so strong." Jacob pulled her back into his embrace, tucking her head under his chin again, "Going in there. Asking her those questions. I hope I have half that strength when I have to face the reservation. You're amazing."

"It's too much Jake." Renesmee's voice was barely a whisper, hoarse and cracked, "Too many memories. Too much pain. Too much heartbreak. They're really gone. I don't know what I thought. That maybe I would come here, and they'd be here, waiting for me. Just waiting for me to join the family again because they knew this was where I would look for them."

Another sob hit but she choked it back.

"They're not here Jake. They haven't been here. It's like they never were. Everything that was them about that house no longer exists. It's all gone."

He didn't know what to say. He could only hold her and comfort her with his actions. He let the fingers of his right hand comb through her curls while his left hand rubbed smooth circles at the base of her back.

"I'm sorry for everything." Renesmee pulled back a bit and looked into Jacob's eyes, "For pushing you away for four years and treating you like shit. I've been horrible and a selfish spoiled brat, just like you said. What if something had happened to you during that time? What if I had lost you just like I lost them? I could never live with myself if I had lost you Jake. I can't live now if I lose you. You're all I have left."

They stared into each other's eyes, neither of them saying a word. It was true forgiveness passing between them. The resentment and anger, it was gone, and it had been replaced by love and adoration. She was looking at him the exact way she had looked at him four years prior. His role in her life was changing again.

He had once told Bella, about imprinting; _**"You become whatever she needs you to be, whether that's a protector, or a lover, or a friend, or a brother." **_His role in her life was changing into what she needed him to be now. A role he had craved for years.

His head lowered. Her eyes fluttered shut. The hand in her hair tightened it's grip and he could feel her breath against his lips. They breathed in unison, one deep breath before their lips would meet. And then his pocket began to vibrate.

"Shit." He cursed, Renesmee jumping up and out of his lap as he fumbled to fish the phone out of his pocket, "Hello?"

"Jake, where are you guys? It's been like two hours." Marnie hissed into the phone, "I don't know how much longer the locals are gonna believe that I'm waiting to meet someone if I just keep sitting in their diner, sipping coffee. I don't know if you realize this but it's a small town. They realize when someone new is here and they're kind of nosy."

"Sorry Marnie." Jacob apologized, glancing over at Renesmee who was pacing between the trees, "We're on our way."

"Do I need to come get you?" Marnie asked.

"No, really. We're on our way. Be there soon."

Jacob hung up his cell phone and exhaled slowly.

"Marnie's restless and apparently so are the natives. She says they're being nosy." He smiled and Renesmee smiled back. Her pacing stopped and she sighed.

"We should get over there then."

Jacob agreed and stood, taking two steps and handing his cell phone to Renesmee.

"Carry that for me? I'm gonna have to phase and since I wasn't really expecting any of this, I didn't bring the pouch to carry anything with me."

"Okay." Renesmee shoved the cell phone into her own pocket, "What's the plan when we get there? You can't come into the diner with me right?"

"Right." Jacob nodded, "Go inside and meet up with Marnie. I'll stay in my wolf form, in the nearest woods. I'll be able to watch you guys and hopefully hear anything that is said. See if someone will tell you where to find Charlie. Once you locate him, park the car as close to the woods as you can and leave it unlocked so I can find a way into it. Leave my cell phone in the car. I'll get my pouch, new clothes since these are about to be lost, and the phone so that you guys can reach me after that."

"Will you stay nearby once we find Charlie or are you gonna head to the reservation?"

Jacob brushed a stray lock of hair from her face and she smiled.

"I don't want to be away from you too long. I'll stay nearby. The reservation can come later."

"Okay." Comfortable with the plan, Renesmee turned around and waited for Jacob to phase.

"You want a ride?" Jacob asked before he phased.

Renesmee shook her head.

"I like to run." She said simply and two seconds later a nose nudged the back of her leg.

She looked over and saw Jacob in his massive wolf form, lopsided grin plastered on his muzzle as he licked her face from chin to hairline.

"Ugh." Renesmee laughed loudly, wiping her face where his slobber remained, "Not exactly the kiss I was looking for Jake."

Before he could react to her words, she had taken off running and he was left to catch up. He had to agree though. It was not exactly the kiss he was looking for either.


	14. Identity: Chapter Thirteen

_**Author's Note: Thank you to all the wonderful reviewers. Some of you had questions so I'm gonna try to answer them the best I can. **_

_**theolugirl, first thank you so much for your awesome review and second, Bonnie, the vampire from the prom, will probably not be coming back however, there will be an explanation in the coming chapters as to how she knew who Renesmee was. **_

_**bribri, Charlie is alive, read this chapter for more info.**_

_**rockiestwitwin, promise answers to your questions about the house in the next 3-4 chapters, maybe sooner depending on the pace I get these written. human guy driving the Volvo, I just inserted that in there cause it would be ironic. it doesn't really have hidden meaning. and the lady being sad, I put that in and I questioned it but decided to leave it in. haven't decided yet if we're gonna go back and get more of her story or if that's all we're gonna get. it's just one of those little details that COULD be developed, but it depends again on the pace of the next few chapters. and for what's going on? well, there's a lot going on. the first of the revelations is in THIS chapter.**_

_**ikidikid, I purposely avoided the cottage but don't worry, it's not forgotten. we'll be getting back to that.**_

_**And now that this is an insanely long author's note, just want to say that this chapter is the first of the turning point chapters where you REALLY start seeing the bigger picture. That being said, don't assume anything. All will be revealed in time! Read on and enjoy. :)  
**_

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Marnie POV**

Everyone was staring at me. I had lived in Belgrade, Montana. I knew what it was like to live in a small town but this was ridiculous. Every single eye in the small diner was on me.

"Would you like some more coffee?" The polite waitress asked me for what had to seem to her to be the millionth time.

Sitting here for what felt like an eternity, waiting for Jacob and Renesmee to join me, I had chugged cup after cup. I had no way to pretend to be busy and nothing to occupy my time except the coffee. It was no wonder these people were staring at me. What sane person sits in a diner and drinks coffee for long periods of time for no reason.

"No thank you Jessica." I had learned her name after about the 5th refill, "My daughter should be joining me soon."

"Okay, well just let me know if you need anything." She smiled and then spun around, her blonde ponytail whipping across her shoulders as she headed back to the front counter, leaving me to stare blankly out the window again.

I had talked to Jacob about 10 minutes ago and he said they were on their way. I wasn't gonna ask how they would get here without a car, since I still had the keys to the Audi safely tucked in my pocket. I knew they had no problem with running, what with his being a werewolf and her being half-vampire. They could get around without wheels. The only question was how long it was going to take him.

"Sorry." Renesmee slid into the seat across from me, surprising me as I hadn't heard the bell above the front door even chime when she walked in, "You okay?"

"I'm fine. I'll probably be awake for the next 48 hours with the amount of caffeine that's currently in my system but I'm fine. Where's Jacob?"

"Around." Renesmee shrugged, making sure no one could hear us, "He can't really show himself here, remember?"

"Right." I nodded and sighed, reaching out to hold Renesmee's hand in my own. She looked like she had been crying. Her cheeks were flushed, but that could have been from the wind. There was a sadness in her eyes though. "What happened at the house?"

Before she could answer, Jessica returned and offered Renesmee a menu.

"I'm not really that hungry." Renesmee frowned and pushed the menu back towards Jessica, "Can I just have a strawberry milkshake?"

"Sure." Jessica nodded, scooped up the menu and disappeared, leaving the two of us alone again.

"So, the house?" I prodded when Renesmee hadn't begun to answer my question a few seconds after Jessica walked away.

"Oh, right." Renesmee took a deep breath, "There's a family living there. They bought the house 10 years ago. All the stuff that belonged to my family, like art work and heirlooms and things, that's all gone, but the furniture is the same. So other than my family's personal things being gone, the house doesn't seem to have changed at all. The family living there now has no clue what they bought. It's almost like my family never lived there at all."

There was sadness in her voice as she talked. I squeezed her hand for sympathy but she just sighed.

"It's fine." She assured me, "I mean, I already knew that they wouldn't be there. They're dead, but I guess maybe a part of me hoped that something would be there. The house being occupied, it just changes things. It's a completely different perspective."

I nodded, wanting her to know I was here for her but knowing I couldn't tell her I understood. I had never been in her position. All her memories of her parents were tied to that house and it was like it had all been ripped away from her now.

"Anyway, the lady who lives there now says it was really well taken care of even though it hadn't been occupied for five years before they moved in. And someone had to have arranged for it to be sold, so maybe whoever took care of it for five years before selling it will know what happened to everything else that should have been there."

"Been where?" Jessica slid the strawberry milkshake Renesmee had ordered across the table in front of us and grinned widely, "I don't mean to pry but you're obviously not from around here and if there's something you're looking for, I can probably help. I've lived in Forks my entire life and I'm usually pretty up to date on the town talk, so I know what's going on."

"Um, well," Renesmee frowned at me then up at this waitress, obviously unsure if she should say anything, "There's a house, on the outskirts of town. Kind of out in the woods. It's three story, white, kind of ancient but beautiful."

"The old Cullen house." Jessica nodded.

At the mention of her family's name Renesmee's eyes lit up.

"The Cullen's, that's right." Renesmee seemed excited, "But they haven't lived there in a long time."

"Yeah, so sad too." Jessica sighed and motioned for Renesmee to scoot over so she could sit with us, like she was an old friend rather than the waitress, "The whole story kind of starts with Bella Swan I guess. She was this girl who moved to town during our junior year of high school and we were like best friends actually."

"You knew my…" Renesmee stopped herself, "You knew Bella Swan?"

"Yeah. Do you know her?" Jessica asked inquisitively, "You kind of look like her actually. Same eyes."

"No." Renesmee lied, realizing she had given too much away already. We hadn't really discussed what story we would tell anyone but regardless, it definitely didn't involve telling anyone who her real family was.

"We're actually here in town looking for Bella's father, Charlie Swan. He and I go way back but I seem to have lost contact with him over the years." I took my moment and seized it, hoping this girl who seemed to know so much could help us.

"Oh yeah, Chief Swan still lives in the same house. He still works at the station too but crime's not too bad around here these days so you can usually find him at home. Do you have the address?"

"I know where it is." Renesmee spoke up and then her face fell again, as she realized she had again said too much. So much for my cover story.

Jessica eyed her suspiciously.

"Are you sure you don't know Bella? You really do look a lot like her."

"I'm sure." Renesmee mumbled, turning away from Jessica and sipping her milkshake instead.

Jessica didn't seem convinced but she turned back to me, "So, yeah, you'll find Chief Swan in the same house he's always lived in. Old place, could probably use some fixing but after Bella got married and disappeared, it was just him there anyway. He hasn't really been the same since then."

"I bet he's been lonely for the past 15 years." Renesmee sighed and this time, Jessica couldn't let it go.

"You have to know Bella. I didn't say she had been missing for 15 years. How did you know that?"

Renesmee stuttered, not forming a full word. The visit to her old home must have really shaken her. I had never seen or heard of her slipping up like this. She was very good at keeping her stories straight.

"What's your name?" Jessica questioned Renesmee further, "You're related to her somehow aren't you? Younger sister? I didn't think she had any siblings but maybe or are you a cousin? Seriously, you're related. I know it."

"Daughter." Renesmee's shoulders slumped as she admitted the truth and my mouth fell open. If Jacob was close enough to hear this conversation he was probably going ballistic right now.

"Oh my God, you're Bella and Edward's daughter?" Jessica shrieked and the entire diner was once again turned in our direction, "When? How? Ugh, I KNEW they got married because she was pregnant! Where are they? The whole Cullen family disappeared and no one knew where they were. Even Chief Swan thought something bad had happened and, wow, you're their daughter. Mike, come here. This is Bella and Edward's daughter. Yeah, now that I look at you closer, you look a bit like Edward too. Oh my God."

A man who had been sitting in the back corner of the diner silently pretending to eat his pancakes was suddenly at our table with us. He was gawking at Renesmee, but pretty much everyone in the room was. I was trying to figure out a way to get her out of this but my mind was coming up blank. Her head was in her hand's, milkshake forgotten as she groaned. She knew she had really gotten herself into a mess.

"Mike Newton." The guy who had joined us reached out to shake my hand but his eyes never left Renesmee, "I guess you've already met my wife Jessica."

Jessica shot me a wide smile.

"I was Jessica Stanley in high school. We were both friends with Bella. Where is she now? Why did they just disappear after the wedding? I think someone said they saw Bella a couple times after that but it was like they went on their honeymoon and just never came back."

My cell phone was ringing on the table and I was sure it was Jacob. He must be listening to all of this unfold, powerless to do anything about it. There was nothing I could do either and answering was out of the question.

"They're dead." Renesmee lifted her head and the faces of everyone in the building fell, "They were murdered and I was adopted by this wonderful woman who has brought me here to see my Grandfather and I'm sorry, but it's really hard for me to talk about my parents so while I appreciate that you were friends with my mother in high school, can we not do this?"

Jessica looked like she was about to cry. Mike's mouth had fallen open.

"Excuse me." Renesmee pushed and Jessica had just enough time to stand before Renesmee ran past her and out the front door. This time I heard the bell chime when the door opened and closed.

The second she was out the door, my phone stopped ringing. The entire diner was silent. A pin dropping would have sounded like TAPS being played at 4AM. There was absolute quiet for what seemed like forever.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Jessica was suddenly apologizing to me profusely through the tears streaming down her face, "I mean, I knew they had disappeared but I had no idea that they were dead."

I raised a hand to cut her off before she continued to rant.

"Can I just pay for my coffee and her milkshake so I can go after her?"

"It's on me." Mike motioned for me to put my money away, "Please tell her how sorry we are. We really meant no harm."

I nodded and grabbed my purse and phone. "Have a nice day." I mumbled before running out the door and to the car.

Renesmee was nowhere to be seen and neither was Jacob. I wasn't sure if I should get in the car and drive around or just stay here. I didn't know this town at all but I also knew that everyone in the diner was still watching me and I didn't want to just sit here to wait for something to happen.

I pulled out of the parking lot and back onto the highway, headed back out of town towards the house where Renesmee had once lived. I had no plan of actually going there but I knew that the farther from civilization I went, the more likely it was that Jacob or Renesmee would find a way to show me where they were and we could all be reunited. I had no doubt they were together right now.

I wasn't even a mile outside of town when a huge wolf I recognized to be Jacob darted across the road ahead of me and into the woods, showing me where I could pull off and meet up with them.

"Renesmee!" I stepped out of the car and headed up into the trees, "Jacob?"

"I'm here." Renesmee was sitting on a fallen tree nearby, chin resting in one hand. Wolf Jacob was sitting beside her, his head resting in her lap while she stroked his fur idly, "Man, I really messed that one up."

"It's okay. I mean, we found out where your Grandfather is so that's a plus and you really didn't give that much away kiddo. Sure, they know who you're parents are but they don't even know you're name and they're no closer to knowing what really happened to your parents so, it's okay. You're still in one piece. You still have me. You still have Jake."

Jacob nudged her leg with his nose and then let his tongue fall out of his mouth, imitating a silly grin which made Renesmee smile. She leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on the tip of his muzzle.

"You're right." She sighed, "I panicked. I'm sorry."

"It's gonna be alright kid." I moved and took a seat by her side, "We just need a plan from here on out. What's our next move?"

Jacob turned to look in the direction Forks would be in and I understood that to mean we had to go back. Renesmee must have understood the same thing because she nodded.

"I'll drive. We'll go to my Grandpa Charlie's house. See if he's home."

"Okay." I agreed. I really was just along for the ride and moral support. I definitely wasn't complaining. Four years without these two had been hell for me. I couldn't admit to them how horrible it had been, because they would blame themselves, but it had been the worst time of my life.

Jacob got up, followed closely by Renesmee and then me.

"I'll go get your stuff from the car now Jake, so you don't have to try to get it later." Renesmee offered as she ran off towards the car.

She was back in a flash, bending to tie a small pouch around Jacob's back leg.

If someone had told me 10 years ago I would be standing in a forest with a half-vampire and a werewolf, not freaking out, but actually watching like the scene unfolding in front of me was normal, I would have insisted they be committed immediately. Now I just watched patiently.

"Cell phone and shorts in there. Just the essentials." She hugged him around the neck and sighed, "Be safe. We'll see you soon."

Jacob took off before we did, weaving through the trees towards the town so fast my eyes couldn't follow. Renesmee sighed then headed for the car, slowly so that I could keep up with her. Once we were settled in the car, she placed the key in the ignition but I stopped her before she could turn the car on.

"What's the plan when we get there? What are you going to tell him?"

Renesmee looked at me, pain and suffering in her eyes. I would have given the world to know exactly what she was thinking but she just shrugged.

"The truth, I guess, or as much of the truth as he's willing to hear." She smiled very hesitantly, "He always said he was on a need to know basis. The less he knew about the supernatural stuff the better."

I could understand that feeling. While it was nice to be included in this strange world Renesmee and Jacob came from, sometimes I wondered if it would be simpler if I just thought they were really best friends. Of course, I dismissed that thought when I remembered that knowing the truth allowed me to keep them in my lives. If I didn't know, they would have permanently ditched me a long time ago.

"Okay." I removed my hand from over hers, allowing her to turn on the car, "Then off we go."

Renesmee turned the car around on the highway and headed back into town silently. We drove past the diner after a few minutes, where we caught a glimpse of Jessica and Mike standing outside in a heated discussion. After we drove by Renesmee grimaced, obviously having caught a snippet of their conversation with her super hearing.

"They're upset. I guess no one thought my parents were dead. You think they would have come to that conclusion after a 15 year disappearance but apparently they just figured that was normal for the Cullen family."

"Families of vampires come and go as they please I guess." I tried to lighten the mood and it worked for a second, then Renesmee was frowning again.

"Not if the Volturi have anything to say about it." She mumbled. I decided not to push the subject.

We drove a few miles further into town and then turned, heading into a residential area. A right turn, a left turn, around a short bend and then Renesmee brought our car to a stop in front of a small, two story weathered house with an intensely old, rusted, spider web covered truck and an older police cruiser. The cruiser was obviously the only car of the two that ran.

Renesmee made no moves to exit the vehicle so I waited. I certainly wasn't going to rush her.

"I don't know if I can do this." She admitted, turning away from the house to look at me, "Marnie, I'm not strong enough for this. Seeing the house, my home, it was too much. I can't face Charlie today too. I can't handle it."

"Nessie, darling," I placed my hand on her cheek and sighed, "You're stronger than you know. I promise you, you CAN do this. And I'll be with you every second. Plus, Jacob's just out there in the woods. If it's really too much to handle, he'll come rescue you. You know he's your knight in shining… wolf fur."

She giggled and nodded, rubbing her cheek in my hand.

"We can do this." I repeated, "Just open the car door, walk up to the house and knock on the door. Everything is going to be okay love."

She completed the first step, placing her hand tentatively on the car door and pulling on it to release the latch. It opened smoothly and she let herself slide from the vehicle while I did the same. I met her by the driver's side door and took her hand in mine, wanting to give her as much strength as I could.

She took the first step, and the second, and set a steady pace as we walked across the street and approached the front door of the old, battered house. The steps creaked as we walked up them and the screen door rattled a little bit with the slight breeze blowing by.

Renesmee raised her hand to knock, then dropped it without touching the door. I squeezed her hand in mine and she took a deep breath, raising her hand again. This time she knocked three times, then let her hand fall to her side again as she fidgeted, shuffling her weight from foot to foot.

Inside we could hear the groans of someone rising from his seat and heading for the front door. His footsteps padded loudly against the old floors and as his footsteps neared, Renesmee's shuffling increased in speed.

The door opened slowly and the dark screen blocked us from seeing the man on the other side clearly, but he was frowning, confused obviously as to why we would be on his front porch.

Renesmee froze. I glanced over at her as her mouth fell open just slightly but she didn't speak, and neither did he. I wondered why he wasn't even asking what we wanted. Didn't most people at least say hello when they opened their front door to strangers?

The silence stretched on until finally he pushed open the screen, forcing Renesmee and I to take a step back. When the screen door was wide open, we could see him clearly and I had no doubt who was standing in front of me. The resemblance between him and Renesmee was crystal clear. This was definitely Charlie Swan.

"Grandpa?" Renesmee finally spoke the first word, stepping forward as if seeing him clearly had also cleared her mind.

Charlie's mouth fell open. I could see in his eyes that he had felt a recognition before but her voice really made it clear to him. The tears were present almost instantly and he stepped out of his front door to get closer.

"Nessie?"

As soon as he spoke her name, she released my hand and jumped into his arms, her tears now flowing freely as she was held by her grandfather. He clutched her tightly and together they cried, the scene bringing tears to my eyes as well. He was the one link to her biological family that she had left and it was clear they had missed each other.

"It's really you?" Charlie questioned, pulling back and bringing Renesmee's face into his hands, "You're alive."

"I'm alive." She responded, nodding, "It's me."

He pulled her back into his arms and then looked up at me, our eyes connecting for just a moment. I'm sure he was wondering who I was but for the time being, having his granddaughter back was all that mattered to him.

In all the visions of her memories of him that Renesmee had shown me, Charlie Swan never seemed like he was that emotional. He had clearly loved her and her mom with all his heart. Quite literally, his world had seemed to revolve around them, but she had never shown me any overt show of emotion. I had never imagined him crying or hugging like he was now. Although, when one's granddaughter who had been missing for 15 years shows up on your front porch, I assume that all normality disappears.

"Oh geez," Renesmee pulled out of Charlie's embrace and wiped her face quickly, "I'm sorry. I didn't get a chance to introduce you. Marnie, this is Charlie. Charlie this is Marnie. She's um, how do I even explain? Marnie's the closest thing to a mother I've had in 15 years."

Charlie's face fell and he looked Renesmee straight in the eyes.

"Bella?" His question was unstated but clear and Renesmee shook her head sadly.

"What happened to her?" He asked.

Renesmee's head fell and I could see the tears start again.

"Maybe we should head inside." I spoke up, motioning for the door, "It's probably better to sit down for this story."

"Yeah, right." Charlie nodded, really acknowledging me for the first time, "Come on in. Come on Nessie."

He guided her in by her shoulders and I closed the door behind all of us, following them towards the living room where Charlie used the remote to turn off the TV immediately.

Renesmee took a seat on the couch and Charlie, obviously not wanting to be very far from her at any time, sat next to her. I was left taking up residence in a worn recliner to the side and I watched while Charlie continued to assess her with his eyes.

He took in her entire body, noticing obviously that she was no longer the toddler sized infant he had known years before. I knew this type of assessment. The kind that checked for marks, bruises, scratches or anything that might show that the child had been mistreated or harmed. He found no imperfections on her porcelain skin and even after the morning's events, her curls fell perfectly down her back, not even a single tangle to mar their beauty. The only sign that anything could have possible been wrong were her tear stained cheeks. She had already cried so much today.

"Tell me everything." Charlie finally said, lifting Renesmee's chin so her eyes met his.

She smiled.

"Are you sure? I thought you were always on a need to know basis."

Charlie nodded.

"Yes, and I NEED to know what happened 15 years ago to take you all away from me and what's happened every day since. You have no idea how worried I was. I searched and searched and I never found anything. I hadn't seen or heard from your mother since Christmas and then New Year's came and went and I still hadn't heard a thing. She didn't return my phone calls and neither did the rest of the Cullens so I finally went out there and there was no one there. I left a note on the door, hoping for some sort of answer. A phone call, a letter, anything. I got nothing. I knew that they wouldn't have taken you anywhere without Jacob so I called Billy and he said Jacob had disappeared too."

"I imagine there were a lot of families with that problem." Renesmee sighed, "The entire pack, gone. So many families on the reservation in mourning for their family members who died just to protect me."

"Wait, what?" Charlie stopped her and shook his head, "What are you talking about?"

"Well, they all disappeared right? There would have been no bodies. Nothing to recover. It was a huge battle. The battle of all battles. All because the stupid Volturi and their stupid rules. Even though no one had broken any rules, really, they just wouldn't listen and so all those people had to lose their lives. The wolves, my parents…"

"Renesmee." Charlie stopped her short, "Back up. Explain to me. Who are these 'Volturi' you're talking about?"

I had heard this story before, but I didn't think it was going to be any easier to hear it a second time. Renesmee's lip quivered as she began slowly, starting from the beginning.

She told Charlie everything. Every detail that he had never wanted to know about vampires and werewolves and the clandestine secret world of the supernatural. She explained the rules that the Volturi claimed her family had broken and the battle, which she and Jacob had escaped, but no one else had.

"You're wrong." Charlie interrupted her story, "When I was looking for you and I finally called Billy, he didn't mention any of the other boys missing. And when I went to see Sue after that, Seth and Leah were both there. They're still they're. I've been to the reservation a million times in the past 15 years. They explained a little to me about this battle thing but like you said, I was on a need to know basis. I didn't want to hear anything except where you and your mother were, but that they couldn't tell me. They didn't know."

There was a crashing noise at the back of the house and within seconds Jacob had joined us in the living room. Charlie's eyes were wide and Renesmee's mouth was hanging open in shock.

Jacob was shaking from head to toe and breathing unevenly but he managed to force out five words.

"Tell me everything you know."

_**Post-chapter author's note: OMG, can you believe it? What's really going on? More reviews = faster update cause the next chapter is already half-written. So review fast... please? :)**_


	15. Identity: Chapter Fourteen

_**Author's Note: OMG, you guys are soooo awesome with your reviews. I can't believe that we hit 200 reviews AND just for the last chapter alone, 34 reviews! That has to be a personal best record. Seriously, you guys ROCK MY WORLD! I'm so sorry this chapter took longer than I had anticipated but it is a pretty long chapter, so hopefully that makes up for the time it took to post.**_

_**There is a LOT of information in this chapter, so pay very close attention. Words in bold/italics are flashbacks. I read and re-read this chapter to make it perfect but I'm betaless, so I don't know if it's as great as I would like it to be. Hopefully you all enjoy anyway.**_

_**Read on and remember, reviewing makes me happy. Enjoy! :)**_

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Jacob POV**

My entire body was quivering from head to toe. It took every ounce of control I had ever possessed not to phase right here in Charlie's living room but I knew if I phased, I wouldn't get the story from Charlie and then what was the point of bursting in here like a maniac?

I had been out in the woods, listening calmly to Renesmee and Charlie talk. I was feeling bad for Renesmee having to face Charlie alone. Tell our story alone. Explain to him what had happened to Bella, alone. She had Marnie with her but it should have been me. I was the one who should have been by her side for moral support.

But she was doing a great job. He was explaining his side to her, about how worried he'd been and where he went looking for his family when he hadn't heard from them and then he'd said it.

"_**You're wrong. When I was looking for you and I finally called Billy, he didn't mention any of the other boys missing. And when I went to see Sue after that, Seth and Leah were both there. They're still they're."**_

That wasn't possible. If the Cullen's had died, my pack would have died. As much as I had always boasted that our pack was stronger than any bloodsucker, I had seen how outnumbered we were at that battle. I knew the outcome before it came true. Bella had known what was going to happen. That was why she had sent us away in the first place. She entrusted Renesmee to me, to keep her safe, because they were not going to survive. None of them were. That included my pack.

So it just couldn't be true what Charlie was saying. Seth, Leah, the rest of the pack, there was no way they were alive.

"Jacob, you have to calm down." Renesmee flitted to my side and placed her hand on my cheek. There was no vision, just a reassuring touch as she caressed my face, "You're shaking. You have to calm down or you're gonna hurt someone. You don't want that."

She was right. Renesmee, Marnie and Charlie were all impossibly close in the tiny living room. If I phased now, they would all be hurt. Like Sam had hurt Emily.

Sam. Was it possible he was still alive too? I had heard the members of my pack being picked off, but Sam was an Alpha too. He could have reached out to me. He could have mentally called me to tell me they were alive. _**"…he didn't mention any of the other boys missing." **_I needed to know more.

"Thank you." I felt the burning and shaking of transformation ebbing from my bones and I turned to look Renesmee in the eyes, placing my hand over hers on my cheek, "I'm good. I'm calm now."

She nodded, took a deep breath and then collapsed against my chest. I held her tightly, so she didn't fall, but I knew the shock of what Charlie had said was hitting her too. In one motion I swept her off her feet and together we took the seat next to Charlie on the couch.

"Everything Charlie. I need to know what you know." I repeated.

"Nice to see you too Jacob." Charlie said slowly, eyeing me first and then Renesmee, whose head was still buried against my bare chest.

"I think we're past greeting. I need to know what you know. Anything at all and if you don't know much, just whatever you do know. What did my dad tell you when you went to see him after you didn't hear from Bella or the Cullens?"

"He said you were missing. That there was some huge misunderstanding that took place and you had disappeared, with Renesmee. And he said he wasn't sure if you were alive, or if she was alive, but everyone was looking for you."

"Everyone? The Cullens?" I couldn't believe I even asked. There was NO WAY they had survived that battle. If they had, they would have found us. It was that simple. They would not have lived and not come looking for Renesmee. She was their life.

"Yeah." Charlie nodded and Renesmee's head popped up, "He invited me down to his house so they could explain better…"

"When was this?" I interrupted him.

"This was probably two weeks after New Years."

Two weeks after New Years. Two weeks after we had left Forks. At that point, we would have just left South America, more specifically Argentina, where we had learned about others like Renesmee. Those two weeks had been crazy.

First, we had flown from Canada to Rio de Janeiro, as Bella's note had instructed us to do. For safety, just hours after we got there, I had found a way to procure several new identities and forms of identification for Renesmee and I. I didn't want to risk that anyone had found a way to get any information out of Bella during the battle. It was safer if we could change our identities often, so no one could track us.

As "Billy and Carlie", we had checked into a hotel but we had absolutely no leads to go on. I had a feeling Bella had sent us there to find out more about Renesmee's future, but I wasn't sure where to look. So Renesmee and I took to the jungles after just one night in civilization and that's how we lived. Traveling through the country, headed south, never encountering anyone who could either help or harm us and eventually we had ended up in Argentina.

As "Sam and Renee", we had checked into a very small hotel in a very small Argentinean town. We had spent about a week living off the land and I knew it was time to treat Renesmee to civilization again. She was still just a little girl and she was mourning the loss of her parents and she needed a warm bed, if just for a night.

At the hotel, I had overheard a man telling a story, of a beautiful, bewitching girl who looked to be no more than 18 who had lured him to her bed and then bit him. At first, I had assumed he must be talking about a vampire but then I had realized that if a vampire had bitten him, he would have turned. He was still a human; beating heart, blood in veins. No, he hadn't been turned or killed so whatever had bitten him, it was different. I had to know more.

After Renesmee had fallen asleep, I lured the man into a conversation, asking him about what I had overheard. He told me about the girl including everything he had said that I had overheard earlier but at the end of it, he continued.

"_**Just between you and me, I know I sound crazy," He said with a thick accent, "She told me she was half-vampire."**_

I couldn't believe my ears. He had, of course, laughed at the idea of it, completely unaware that the child I held in my arms was exactly the type of creature he had described. I had asked if he knew where I could find the creature and he had said she lived in the jungle but had warned me not to go looking for her because she was dangerous. I pretended to heed his warning but that had been the exact lead I had been looking for.

Coming back to the present, I nodded at Charlie and urged him to continue.

"So you went to see Billy."

Charlie nodded back at me, still eyeing Renesmee hiding in my chest.

"Billy was there with Sue, Seth and Leah. I was panicked. I didn't know what was going on and so they explained as well as they could. As much as I would let them." Charlie took a deep breath, "They said there had been a battle. New Years Eve. I had reminded them I wanted to know as little about this world you were all a part of as possible and I just wanted to know where my daughter and granddaughter were."

I wished more than anything else that Charlie hadn't told them that. Had he agreed to knowing everything, we'd have so much more information right now.

"So they said they didn't know where you and Renesmee were. They said that you had left before the battle really began. Bella and Edward had entrusted her to you and you did what they asked, fleeing from here to keep her safe."

Renesmee finally looked up, but she stayed by my side, embedded there. She was silent but she watched Charlie as he spoke.

"They said that there had been some sort of silent confrontation for a bit and then an all out fight had started. They held their own as did everyone else involved. There were injuries but in the end, the fight was stopped because Alice returned."

"Alice?" Renesmee spoke, sitting up straight and coming to attention, "Alice came back?"

"Seth said Jasper had somehow calmed the fight long enough for Alice to present new information and with her new information, whatever the threat was, it was suddenly gone."

This new information was all at once enlightening, exhilarating and frustrating. I needed more details. I needed to know what had TRULY happened, no sugar coating. I needed details, the details Charlie had insisted he be blind about.

"There's something missing." I said, not allowing Renesmee any further inquiry or Charlie to continue with his story, "There's a lot missing actually and not that I don't appreciate your help Charlie, but I need more. We need to go to the reservation. Now."

I stood, pulling Renesmee to her feet with me and heading for the front door. Charlie and Marnie followed at a slightly slower pace.

"Well, now that I know my daughter married into a family of vampires who are governed by some weird vampire royal family, yes, I realize there are holes. I wish I could fill them in for you Jacob but at the time, I didn't know. That being said I just got my granddaughter back. You could wait a few minutes before whisking her away again don't you think?"

In the front hallway we stopped. Renesmee at my side and Marnie near Charlie, facing us. My breathing was erratic again, but it wasn't because I was resisting the urge to phase. It was because there was so much going on. So much information being thrown at me and it wasn't complete. I was in a state of shock and disbelief. Until I actually saw Seth and Leah safe, I just couldn't believe that it was all real.

"I'll bring her back. Marnie, stay here with Charlie? Renesmee and I will go to the reservation and find out what we can. I promise we will return as quickly as possible."

"Jake, wait." Marnie objected, looking at Charlie and then back at Renesmee and I.

"I can't leave her here Marnie." I countered before she could even propose an alternative, "Renesmee has to be with me and I don't want to bring you two any further into this than necessary okay? Just stay here. We will be back."

"Now Jacob…" Charlie took a step forward but Renesmee and I, in unison, stepped closer to the door.

"Charlie, I know you just got her back. I understand and you're not losing her again, but going without her is not an option. I need more information and I need to concentrate while I get that information and I can't concentrate with her that far away from me so, I'm sorry. You stay. She comes with me."

"It's okay Grandpa." Renesmee let go of me for a quick second while she ran to Charlie's side, hugging him tightly, "I'll be back."

She moved to Marnie, squeezed her hands for reassurance, and then was back at my side, pulling me out the front door.

Instead of heading for the car across the street she pulled me into the woods. Not that it took much force from her as I was following willingly but when she stopped abruptly I was confused.

"Phase." She said simply, when we were several feet into the woods, "Gotta run."

"Renesmee." The need for information was suddenly not as urgent as I took the time to really look into her eyes and see the lost little girl in them, "Are you okay?"

Her face fell but she was quiet. I could see that she was just as confused as I was and with just as many questions. She raised her hand to my face and I saw all the questions flash before my eyes.

"How did this happen? Why didn't we know sooner? Why didn't anyone find us? Are my parents alive?"

I placed my hand over hers and pulled it away from my face, interrupting the images. I turned my head and kissed her palm lightly to comfort her.

"We're gonna find out all the answers to your questions okay? I promise Nessie. We'll get to the bottom of this."

I pulled her into my arms, kissing the top of her head as she wrapped her arms around my waist. We stood like that for a moment, quiet and thoughtful. I caressed her back and she sighed.

"We need to go." She pulled out of my embrace and turned to look North, "We're no closer to answers while we stand here."

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay." I repeated myself, really looking at her and trying to assess just how much damage this revelation had caused.

She half-smiled and stood on her tiptoes to place a soft, sweet kiss against my cheek.

"I'm fine. Let's just get those answers."

She started running before I had a chance to do anything. The kiss had taken me by surprise but as soon as I realized that she was gone, I phased and took off after her.

We ran together through the woods from Charlie's house to La Push. It was about a 30 mile run and when we were close to the house I used to call home, I slowed our pace. No doubt Charlie had called my dad already, warning him of our impending arrival. We would have to be careful to avoid anyone other than the pack seeing us though. I couldn't exactly explain the not aging thing to the rest of the reservation's population. Although that was something the rest of the pack would have had to explain, asking them what they used as an excuse was the furthest thing from my mind.

I phased back to human form in the forest just across the road from my house. I could hear movement inside the house from where Renesmee and I stood, peering through the trees. There were several voices. My dad and Sue and then…

"That's definitely Seth and Leah." Renesmee gasped, hearing the same voices I was hearing inside the house, "And it sounds like Sam too. Jake, they're really alive."

Her eyes started to fill with tears as she looked up at me in awe.

"I know honey." I pulled her into my arms as a few sobs escaped her, "I know. I can't believe it either."

"All this time." She cried quietly, "15 years and they've been here the whole time."

"I know." I held her until the cries died down and then she straightened herself up and took a deep breath.

"Let's go inside. Sounds like they're expecting us."

She placed her hand inside mine and held on tightly as we stepped out from the woods and crossed the empty highway. We were three steps away from the front steps when the front door swung open and there in the doorway was Leah Clearwater.

"Holy shit." She mumbled, her mouth falling open, "It's true. You're alive."

Leah was quickly pushed out of the way and Seth came flying down the stairs, tackling me. He had grown even more after I left. He was almost as big as me, but not stronger, and I pinned him after just a few tumbles. In the same instant, we jumped up from the floor and I was enveloped in his friendly hug.

"Dude, I cannot believe you're alive! Where the hell have you been? We all thought you were dead for sure! Edward and Bella couldn't find you. They looked and looked…"

"Are they alive?" Renesmee interrupted and Seth finally turned to her, as if he were noticing her for the first time.

"Wow, Renesmee Cullen, all grown up." Seth whistled loudly and instinctively I reached out and punched him, "Ow, dude. I was just saying she's grown up. I didn't mean anything by it."

"Answer her question." I growled.

"Yeah, they're alive, or at least they were when they left to search for you. Haven't seen or heard from them in almost as long as it's been since we saw or heard from you."

Renesmee and I exchanged a look. She was gonna start crying again, I could see it in her eyes, but we were interrupted by Sam.

"Seth." Sam was now in the doorway, calling Seth gruffly, "Quit running your mouth. Why don't you let them inside so we can really talk?"

"Yes sir." Seth mock saluted Sam and then turned back to us, "Seriously dude, it's so good to see you. Come on, come on. We have a lot to talk about."

Renesmee clutched my hand and didn't let go as we headed up the steps to the house.

Sam let Seth and Leah back in the house and then blocked the doorway again as Renesmee and I approached. He eyed us carefully, looking us both over slowly.

"I don't understand." He finally said quietly, "You were dead. There was no other explanation. How did this happen?"

After a moment's pause, I took a deep breath, just as confused as Sam clearly was. I used my free hand to pat him on the shoulder and motion with my head to the tiny living room just on the other side of the door.

"Let's go inside and we'll figure this out."

Sam nodded and turned, walking inside where Renesmee and I could follow him.

My dad was in his wheelchair in the corner farthest from me. Sue was standing by his side with her hand on his shoulder supportively. Until that moment, I had only seen my dad cry once, when my mother had died. The image of him now, aged and fragile, with tears running down his face, broke me.

"Dad."

Renesmee and I moved as one swiftly across the room and she let my hand go as I kneeled to embrace my father.

"Jake, we thought you were dead. 15 years and so long, I thought you were gone. This is a true blessing. My son returns."

We hugged for a full minute before pulling apart and my dad began to compose himself. He wiped his tears and smiled at me, patting my cheek.

"Welcome home." He whispered.

"I'm sorry. This is all very touching but what the hell Jake? Where have you been? Why couldn't we contact you? Why couldn't we hear you? What happened 15 years ago and why did you never come back?" Leah interrupted just as I was giving Sue a quick hug, "I'm about two seconds from kicking your ass for leaving us high and dry like that."

"Leah." Sam scolded her.

"You think we wanted to leave and not come back for 15 years?" Renesmee reacted before I had a chance to respond. Her voice rose and she took on a defensive position, "We thought you were dead!"

"Ditto." Leah responded defensively, "But we at least looked for you! You never came back at all."

"We're here now." I said simply, "There are a lot of questions, on both sides obviously. We need answers. You need answers. But fighting is not going to solve anything."

Renesmee instantly relaxed, shrinking back to my side and taking my hand again. Leah eyed us but didn't say another word, rolling her eyes and taking a seat in a small chair in the corner instead.

Seth, who had been watching the exchange tensely, settled down when Leah was sitting and took his own seat on the floor near the TV, facing the couch. Sam motioned for Renesmee and I to sit on the couch and he remained standing, facing all of us at the same time.

It was slightly weird for me to be treated as a guest in my own home, but then again, this hadn't been my home in 15 years. Obviously, a lot had changed in that time.

"First thing is first, I need to know what happened at that battle. " I started when everyone else was quiet for a second, "I know what I heard up until the point I heard nothing anymore. I heard everyone get attacked. I stopped hearing Quil and Embry first, then Seth, and finally Leah. I guess I assumed they were all dead because I couldn't hear them anymore and then I was so focused on getting Renesmee to safety, it was several days before I phased again and tried to call out to you Sam, to see if maybe you had survived. But I heard nothing. There hasn't been a single voice in my head since that day."

"I was badly injured." Sam said, holding up his hand to quiet both Seth and Leah who had started to talk again, "For a week after the battle, I was human. I couldn't phase while I was healing which would explain why I didn't hear you and obviously you couldn't hear me when you tried to call me a few days later."

"Injured how?" Renesmee asked.

"Crushed, basically." Sam remained calm but I saw Seth shudder at the horrible memory, "The left side of my body from my skull to my ankle was essentially shattered. My hand, my face, my arm, leg, ribs."

"Carlisle said he was lucky to be alive. If Emmett hadn't ripped that vampire off of Sam when he did, Sam probably wouldn't have made it." Seth spoke up and shuddered again, "Crazy day."

"We're still in shock that any of you are alive." Renesmee sighed and looked up directly at Sam, "Sorry for your injuries."

Sam almost smiled at her, but in the end kept his calm façade. He nodded at her and shrugged.

"No need to apologize. We did what we had to do."

"So why couldn't I hear my pack?" I asked, returning to my original line of questioning, "I should have been able to hear them no matter what."

"When you left, we could still hear you but without you being physically there, we had no way of communicating with Sam and the other pack." Leah explained, "So we had to re-choose. Quil and Embry must have chosen first, to join Sam's pack again. Then Seth and since I was your second in command, me last. You know the last thing in the world I wanted to do was to rejoin Sam's pack but you were gone. We had to do something."

That made sense. They had to be part of a pack with an alpha and the only alpha at the battle was Sam. They needed his commands and to be able to hear the rest of the wolves.

"But I heard you guys fighting before it all went away and I heard injuries and brutality." I hated remembering the crushing, ripping, tearing and biting that I had heard that day, "That's the main reason I thought it was death that had taken you guys from me. I heard the pain."

"Yeah, that battle sucked." Seth admitted, "It was short from the time it started to the time Alice stopped it, but I had 3 crushed ribs, a broken ankle and a cracked skull at the end of it. Carlisle checked us all out as soon as he could. Most of us were in pretty bad condition but we healed quickly . Leah, you had a broken wrist and what else?"

"Fractured pelvis, a couple of torn ligaments, dislocated ankle." She sighed, "I don't think any of us escaped without a scratch. Sam was the worst though."

"It was hard." Sam's eyes glossed over as he seemed to be remembering the day, "Every time a member of the pack got hurt, I got distracted. I hated hearing them in pain. A lot harder than I thought it was going to be. We were very outnumbered even with the Cullens and their vampire friends on our side."

"But it was stopped when Alice returned." Renesmee spoke up, "How?"

"None of us knew what was happening but suddenly, instead of wanting to fight and hating the people attacking us, we were all overcome with happiness and calm. Obviously later we realized that was Jasper." Seth explained, "But apparently the other vampires felt the same way, cause the fighting stopped, just for a second, but it was long enough that suddenly Alice and Jasper appeared and they brought with them a boy and his aunt who had come from South America. The boy was like Renesmee, a half-breed. His father a vampire and his mother a human. He explained that he was 150 years old but had stopped aging when he was just 7, appearing at that time to be about 17."

"Just like me." Renesmee whispered, looking up at me.

I nodded but urged Seth to continue. We were finally getting some real answers.

"The boy telling his story convinced the Volturi that Renesmee would not be a threat and the battle ended. They lost a few. Our side lost a couple, but it was over and they retreated and we were just left to heal and recuperate."

"All the Cullens except for the doctor and his wife took off after you. Bella said she was sending you to Rio De Janeiro so that's where they were headed." Leah added.

"But they didn't find us." I was taking all the information in the best I could, and it was really beginning to add up, but there was so much that we still didn't know, "Who died?"

"Jonah, Isaac, and a couple of the vampire friends."

Sam listed the names of a couple of the youngest pack members who had turned just before the battle, barely ten or eleven years old. They were so young to die for such nonsense. I wondered which of the vampires had died as well although it didn't matter much to me as long as it wasn't the Cullens.

There was still so much we didn't know. I hated not knowing exactly what had happened. I needed the whole story so I could draw my own conclusions and most importantly, I needed to know where Edward and Bella were. If all of this was true, then where were they? Why hadn't they found us and were they still looking?

"Why did you think we were dead?" Renesmee inquired, looking around at everyone in the room, "Other than not being able to hear Jake any more, what made you think we were dead?"

"Well, losing the option of hearing Jacob was one part of it. The second part of it was that you didn't return within a couple days of the battle being over. Of course, while Dr. Cullen and his wife were still in town, we got updates from them. The rest of the family followed your scent into Canada then lost your scent in the airport. They assumed you had boarded a plane. Bella figured you were headed to Rio, like she had told you to do, so they all flew there as well. There was some sort of delay though. I don't remember what it was but it took them longer than expected to get to Rio." Sam began to explain.

"Their plane had a malfunction and they had to be rerouted." Seth spoke up, filling in the blanks, "Then they got on a new plane that hit bad weather and had to be grounded. They finally just ended up running from wherever they had landed in South America, but they said by the time they got there, they couldn't pick up your scents anywhere. Plus Alice could see every single path they took as they made decisions so they knew they weren't on the right track."

"Because if they had been, the path would have disappeared." I sighed, "So they did what? Gave up?"

"No, I don't think so." Seth sort of shrugged, "After we were all healed up and the extra vamps had all left the area, Carlisle and Esme packed up and took off to join them. We didn't hear anything from them after that."

"That's not true." My dad interrupted with a very loud sigh, "I received letters from Bella every once in awhile. Haven't gotten one in years, but she would send a letter sometimes. I kept them. They're in a shoebox under my bedside table."

I took off to retrieve the box without even thinking. Renesmee was by my side immediately and we pulled out the dusty old shoebox together.

Each envelope had my dad's name and address written in what I recognized to be Bella's handwriting but no return address, no postmark, and no stamp. She hadn't mailed these letters. Upon further inspection, each letter contained just a couple of short sentences. The date was written at the top of each letter. The first one was dated just a week after we had left.

"_**Dear Billy,**_

_**We haven't found them yet but we're hopeful. We'll be sure to keep you updated. Please let us know if you hear ANYTHING from Jacob.**_

_**~ Bella"**_

Each letter read almost identical to that one for the first year and they seemed to have arrived frequently; February 1, February 17, February 26, March 3, March 14. But as the time passed, the dates became farther apart and after the first year, the tone of the letter seemed to have change.

"_**Dear Billy,**_

_**We haven't found them yet but we're still looking. If you have any information or any leads AT ALL, please let us know. We'll try anything.**_

_**~ Bella"**_

The hope was lost and there was a tone of desperation that had replaced it. They hadn't found us and it had been a year. They hadn't stopped looking but they didn't seem to feel like they would really find us.

The years passed and the letters came less and less frequently, only one or two in the fourth year. And finally, the last one said it all.

"_**Dear Billy,**_

_**We haven't found them and we fear the worst since it's been five years and we still have no results. We've chased every lead and come up blank. No one has seen them. No one knows them. Honestly, we're not even sure what we're looking for anymore. Renesmee will be almost fully grown now. Our sense of smell failed us in this search a long time ago and now, we have no idea what our little girl might look like, so sight and memory do us no good either. I can't give you any false hope that your son is alive. It's been too long…**_

_**~ Bella"**_

Everything was starting to come together. So many answers but still so many questions. It sounded like I had been wrong. I assumed that Bella and Edward, if alive, would never give up, but it sounded like they had.

I didn't want to start second guessing all the decisions I had made for Renesmee and I as she grew up. Regrets did me no good when I couldn't turn back time and change anything, but I knew exactly why they hadn't found us in Rio. We hadn't stayed there. And we had covered our tracks the best we could, specifically because we knew vampires were on our trail. Granted, we thought it had been the Volturi, but we did everything we could to NOT be found. And apparently, we had done a good job. If only we had slipped up, made a mistake, stayed in Rio a little longer, stayed in ANY place a little longer, maybe they would have found us. Renesmee could have grown up with her parents, her family, the life she always wanted. I knew I couldn't do anything about it now, but it hurt all the same.

I looked over at Renesmee and wondered if she was feeling the same way. Was she blaming me for not having her parents all these years?

I was surprised the others hadn't followed us to the room, but since they hadn't, we returned to them slowly, Renesmee clutching the box of letters to her chest.

She looked over to my dad and opened her mouth to voice a question, but he held up his hand for her to stop. He nodded once and she had her answer without speaking. She could keep the letters.

"Why didn't you tell us that you had gotten letters from Bella?" Seth exclaimed, reminding me there had been a conversation going on before I had headed to read those letters, "We didn't know you had any contact with the Cullens."

"There was never any update." My dad just sighed and I watched Sue comfort him with a reassuring squeeze of his shoulder, "I would have told you if there was an update. And in the end, they lost their hope. I lost my hope. As parents, we all thought we had lost our kids."

"The last letter is dated 10 years ago. I'm assuming that was just before the house was sold. Do you know who was taking care of the house before it was sold?" Renesmee asked, "No postmark means the letters were hand delivered so does that mean my parents had been taking care of the house too?"

"Don't know." My dad admitted and the rest of the group confirmed their ignorance on the matter, "I always thought it was weird that the letters arrived with no postage, but no one ever saw any of the Cullens in the area."

"We would have known if they were on the reservation but we didn't keep tabs on their house once we assumed they were out of the area." Sam said simply, "It would make sense that there was a vampire in the house for awhile though. Although we had no new wolves join the pack after the battle, no one was able to stop phasing for years. That would indicate a vampire presence in the area."

"Have you stopped now?" Now that he mentioned it, I looked Sam over and he did seem to be older. The stress of leading a pack for so long or had he actually begun to age again?, "No more phasing?"

"We all did." Leah answered for him, "There was no more reason for it after the Cullens were gone. We haven't had any vampires in the area for years. The tribe no longer needed it's protectors."

Little things began to catch my eye now. Sam's wedding band resting perfectly on his left hand, slightly tight where his skin was stretched taut around it. There were scratches and scuff marks on Seth's legs that hadn't healed from when we had wrestled outside just a bit earlier. They were all wearing full sets of clothing. Still summertime clothing, shorts and tee shirts, but more clothing than any of us had ever worn. I was the last remaining wolf in the room… on the reservation… at all.

The inhale and exhale of the rooms occupants along with the steady thrum of heartbeats was the only sound in the room for several moments.

"Things change in 15 years Jacob." Leah said simply.

Of course they did. Fifteen years is a long time. The trees would grow. The flowers would bloom. The ocean's tide would rise and fall with the sun. Wolves didn't change though. I hadn't changed.

It was hard to process that I was the only one left. The only wolf of the Quileute Tribe. It was a different feeling than thinking you were the only surviving wolf versus knowing they were all alive and had just simply stopped phasing and started aging again.

"There are still a lot of questions Jacob." Sam interrupted my inner monologue and I looked up at him slowly, "But for now, there are also a lot of people here who are dying to see you themselves."

"No one believed us when we called to tell them you're alive." Seth was grinning from ear to ear again.

"Emily is at home making a feast. Everyone would like to welcome you home." Sam let a smile grace his figures for just a moment, "There are a lot of new additions to the tribe you need to meet. As Leah mentioned, things have changed in 15 years."

_**Post-chapter author's note: JacobAPotter, way to guess correctly. I had already planned that from the beginning and written that part of this chapter when I read your review and I was speechless. How did you know? LOL**_


	16. Author's Note

_**Author's Note**_

Hey guys! I'm so sorry for the lack of updates in the past few months. I promise I am TRYING but all the odds seem stacked against me. First, I work three jobs. One full time, one part time and one volunteer. Every single night of my week, other than Tuesday and Wednesday, are pre-booked weekly. And with that kind of booking, Tuesday's and Wednesday's fill up quickly with the little things that need to be done.

This does not mean that I am giving up on Identity though! I sat down tonight and tried to write. Got a few sentences out but it's just not flowing the way I want it to. I think my soundtrack is all wrong but I don't know how to fix it. Writer's block has set in with a vengeance but I promise to keep trying. I don't know when the next update will happen but please, please, set up to get an alert when I do update so that you know when it happens. I LOVE the support and messages that I've received from all of you. The reviews are amazing! Seriously, I can't thank you enough so please don't let the hope die. An update WILL come.

Thank you again!

_**~Bryana~**_


	17. Identity: Chapter Fifteen

**_Author's Note: First, let me just say that I am SOOOOO sorry for this update taking so long. Second, I want to say THANK YOU to all of you who are still reading this and pushing for me to update. I'm so honored to have all of you who love this story and believe in my writing enough to care if I finish this or not. It's a short update but I will do my absolute best to get you more VERY soon. I actually feel inspired for the first time in awhile AND I may actually have the time to write. Crazy! Anyway, thank you again to all of you so much for reading and reviewing and sticking with me. Enjoy!_**

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Renesmee POV**

Pain. I had experienced this kind of emotional pain before so I figured that this time the agony should not have been as bad. But it was. I didn't know whether to curl up in a ball and cry or scream and throw things across the room, so I did neither. I chose to stand in front of my bedroom window and stare out into the darkness of the forest instead. I didn't want to think about the fact this room had once been my mothers, or that my family was out there somewhere living their lives normally, or that they had given up on me. If I thought about those things the pain would get worse.

A soft knock on the door interrupted my concentration on not thinking and one thought broke free into my psyche. _They're alive._ I wanted to fight my own conscience and remind it that yes, my parents were alive, but they were not looking for me anymore and I refused to venture down that train of thoughts. I focused instead on Jacob, standing in the doorway, waiting for me to tell him it was okay to come into the room.

"Hey." I shot a quick smile in his direction and motioned with my head for him to enter, "You get set up on the couch?"

Jacob laughed but nodded.

"It's not nearly big enough but it'll do."

He was at my side in barely an instant, running his fingers through my hair to push my curls back from my face.

"You wanna talk about it yet?" He asked me quietly.

It had been several long hours since we had visited Billy on the reservation and the truth about my family had come to light. Since then we had attended a feast at Sam & Emily's house, met tons of new friends & family, had a bonfire on the beach at La Push and swam in the ocean. Not to mention the argument between Charlie and Billy over where Jacob, Marnie and I would sleep during our stay in Forks. If Jacob hadn't stepped in and pointed out that Charlie's house was bigger, the two former best friends may have come to blows over it.

"So is it Sue's fault Charlie and Billy aren't friends anymore?" I asked Jacob, avoiding the real question he had asked me, "Because she's with Billy now instead of Charlie? 'Cause when I was little it sure seemed like she had taken an interest in Charlie."

"I have no idea." Jacob smirked, "You're avoiding my question again."

He had probably asked me 20 times in the past few hours if I wanted to talk about the days events. I hadn't answered yet. To answer required thinking about it. I didn't want to think about it.

"Sam and Emily's kids are sweet. And so is Jared and Kim's little girl. Were you surprised that Paul and Rachel have so many? Four kids seems like a lot. It's too bad we didn't know sooner that you're an uncle. We've missed so much."

"You're really good at this avoidance thing." Jacob said simply.

"Yes, I am." I admitted with a sigh, falling forward into his arms, "I don't wanna think about it Jake."

Just saying it out loud, verbally acknowledging that there was something I was avoiding, shattered my resolve and the thoughts started to pour in. Where were they? What were they doing right now? Why had they given up? The vampire we had met so many years ago in Belgrade, Bonnie, did she know them? Is that how she had known me? What did all of this mean for my future? For Jacob's future?

"You don't have to." He wrapped his arms around me and rubbed my back reassuringly, "Not right now but this changes things Ness. We have to think about it at some point okay?"

"I'm mad Jake." I admitted with little resolve, "I'm angry that they gave up and that we've gone so long without being a part of our families. Your dad got remarried to Sue. You have four nieces and nephews. We could have been a part of all of this if they'd just kept looking."

"We don't know that Renesmee." Jacob kept me wrapped up in his arms as he sighed, "My main objective was to hide you and I did a good job. If anyone is to blame here, it's me. Your parents looked for us for five years. That's a long time when you think someone is dead."

His reasoning didn't quell the anger rising more and more with each passing second. I couldn't get over the fact they had given up on me. No matter what was said, my thoughts returned to that key point.

"Listen to me." Jacob pulled away from me a little and cupped my face in his large, rough hands, "This is a huge revelation. I know that and I know you're upset. You don't have to make any decisions tonight, but we do need to talk eventually okay?"

I sighed and nodded, falling back into his arms. Eventually.

I managed to put off any serious talk for the next month as we lived a relatively normal life traveling between Forks and La Push. We spent a lot of time hanging out with Charlie, taking day trips to nearby cities, hanging out with Jacob's family on the reservation and really getting to know Jacob's nieces and nephews as well as the other new members of his extended family.

What we did NOT do was focus or talk about where my parents were, or what they were doing, or when/if we would go looking for them. All of that still upset me and since Jacob sensed my aversion to the subject, he avoided it too. Denial was my friend until it was nearing September and closing in on time to report to Dartmouth.

"Uncle Jake, watch me!" Lillian, the oldest of Paul and Rachel's kids, called out as she ran towards the water at La Push beach.

"I'm watching Lily." Jake called back, watching the 8 year old jump fearlessly at the oncoming waves, rushing into them as she giggled loudly, "Don't go too far out!"

Jacob and I, along with his younger niece and nephews, were sitting in the sand away from the waves. Mekai and Moises, the 5 year old twin boys, were building a sand castle while 2 year old Kimeya tried to eat her own sand covered toes. I laughed as Jacob playful smacked her feet away from her mouth.

"Aunt Nessie, look."

I snapped to attention as my name was called and smiled when Mekai was eagerly showing me the part of the castle he had just built.

"That's great Kai. Keep going buddy."

At the beach, it was almost easy to forget that there were problems in the world. Everything was so peaceful and I was happy. Sitting in the sand with Jacob, watching over four beautiful children, it was easy to imagine a future where Jake and I could live in peace. I wasn't really sure if I would be able to have kids, but it was nice to imagine a life with Jacob where we did have a few of our own.

"You know what today is right?" Jacob asked, breaking my reverie.

"Um, no." I admitted, not even recalling the day of the week, let alone the date.

"Today is September 1st." Jacob said as if it meant something. I shrugged.

"And?"

"It's 10 days before your birthday, 13 days before your mom's birthday and 20 days before you have to report to Dartmouth."

My mouth formed an O but no sound escaped.

"Technically, we should probably even get there a few days ahead of time because the 20th is when you have to talk to your advisor and get everything settled for the school year. We haven't even gotten an apartment to live in or decided if we are getting an apartment. Are you living in the dorms? We haven't talked about it."

I shrugged again.

"I um, I guess I've sort of been avoiding it. I talked to Paul and Nancy the other day and they said that they had filled out everything and sent it in and I was all set but I didn't ask exactly what that entailed."

"I've let you avoid a lot of serious conversation lately Renesmee because I know how hard this all is for you, but Dartmouth is something we need to figure out. What's your plan?"

I didn't have a plan but I knew Jacob wouldn't accept that answer. I had to face at least this part of my future. I could still avoid the subject of my parents for awhile, but this was not something I could put off.

"I'll call Paul and Nancy. Find out what they set up for me and then we can go from there." I said simply, "Does that sound like a good plan?"

Jacob smiled widely at me, his teeth glinting in the fall sunlight.

"It's a start."

When we had dropped the kids back at Paul & Rachel's house, Jacob drove my car out to a lookout point where we could see miles and miles of ocean. A place we could have privacy.

"Make the call." He urged me, handing my cell phone to me, "I'm right here."

I took a deep breath but let it out with ease. Making the phone call to Paul & Nancy was easy. Finding out what the plan was for Dartmouth, that would be cake. It was the part I would have to deal with after which would be hard.

"Honey, I'm so glad you called!" Nancy didn't greet me, just gushed the second she answered the phone, "How are you? Where are you? Are you coming home before heading to Dartmouth or should we just send your things ahead for you?"

"Um, actually, that's why I was calling. I realized we never really discussed where I would be living when I went to Dartmouth or how that would work and since it's getting closer, I wanted to find out."

She laughed on the other end.

"Dorms are a normal part of college life but we just couldn't stand the idea of you having to stay in a tiny one room place with another girl who may or may not be a serial killer, although I doubt Dartmouth admits serial killers but that's beside the point. So we rented you an apartment. I thought I sent you an email with all of this information."

The truth was that I hadn't checked my email in weeks. La Push, Forks, Jacob, Marnie, Charlie… email wasn't on my list of priorities.

"I haven't really checked my email Nancy. The internet is really bad here."

"Where are you exactly? I hear the ocean."

"I am in Washington." I purposely left out my specific location, "It's beautiful here but technologically challenged. Can you text me the info instead?"

"Of course darling." Nancy was smiling on her end of the phone, "So has your summer been what you wanted? The adventure that you wanted?"

I thought over the details of the last few months. Traveling with Jacob, finding Marnie, the revelation of my parents fate, spending time with my family. I smiled.

"The summer has been perfect. I wouldn't change a thing." I reached out and held Jacob's hand tightly, "I gotta go Nancy. Text me that info and I'll call you soon okay?"

"Okay sweetie. Travel safely and let us know when you arrive at Dartmouth safely okay?"

"Okay." I agreed.

I hung up the phone after saying goodbye and then looked over at Jacob, sighing.

"They rented me an apartment. No dorms. She'll text me the information and that'll be that."

Jacob nodded, squeezing my hand which was still nestled in his larger one.

"And now the hard part." He said softly, "What about your parents?"

The anger I had bottled up, corked and buried in the depths of my emotional reservoir came bubbling up to the surface and immediately I felt my eyes narrow. My hands started to shake and my breathing became shallow.

"Renesmee." Jacob whispered quietly, bringing my fingers to his lips and kissing my knuckles very lightly, "Breathe."

"I don't wanna talk about them Jake. I don't want to think about them, talk about them, put any effort into finding them, put any effort into thinking about finding them. They were dead before. They're dead now. Done."

Jacob sighed.

"It doesn't work like that honey."

"Yes it does." I insisted, "It does if I say it does and I say it does so it does."

I knew I was rambling but if I didn't end this conversation soon, the tears would emerge and I'd lose control. Losing control was not an option.

"Nessie…" Jacob pulled me into his arms, clutching me to his chest, "We have to do something Ness. It's important. They're alive and I know how hard that is for you. I've let you avoid it for awhile but, we can't just do nothing."

His embrace was calming but it didn't change my resolve.

"I can do nothing."

I could sense Jacob was getting frustrated with me but he stayed quiet, holding me. I listened to the rhythmic beating of his heart and let my eyes close, relishing his scent. I hoped he would drop the subject. I didn't want to ruin a perfectly good day with this talk.

"Can we make a deal?" Jacob spoke after a few silent moments, "A compromise so to speak?"

I groaned and pulled out of his embrace, crossing my arms over my chest and rolling my eyes. It was childish but he had to sense how much I hated this topic.

"We will do nothing about locating your parents. We won't talk about them or think about them. You get your wish. They remain dead to us."

I liked the sound of this so far, but where was the compromising part?

"Until the day you graduate Dartmouth."

And there it was. My eyes narrowed and I glared at Jacob.

"Renesmee Carlie Cullen, don't look at me like that. I get it okay? They gave up on you. They gave up on me. They gave up on us and that pisses me off too. I never thought they would do that if they had made it through that day but something happened, obviously, and they did give up. Personally, I'd like to know their side of the story but I am giving you the option of putting off finding them for another 4 years. That is almost 20 years of living without them. Don't you think that's enough punishment? When we do find them you can tell them that you knew they were alive and you purposely didn't look for them. Then they can feel just as crappy as you feel right now okay? Isn't that payback enough?"

My eyes widened at his rant but I didn't respond. I would never admit it out loud, but he had a point. I was pissed off and angry and hurt and I did want to pay them back for that pain. I wasn't sure four years would be long enough but if I agreed now, by that time I could probably convince him to give me a bit longer. Again, I would never admit that out loud.

Slowly I nodded and then uncrossed my arms.

"Okay." I said quietly, "I'll compromise. I get my way until graduation and then we will find them."

"Thank you." Jacob pulled me back into his arms and kissed the top of my head, "I love you Renesmee Cullen."

My heart faltered for a second. It was incredibly apparent to me that there had never been a time he had said those words to me and I had responded with the same sentiment. Of course there was love between us. We had been everything to each other for almost 16 years but this was not the friendship, caretaker, guardian love. This was LOVE.

I pulled out of his embrace slowly, looking him in the eye. He didn't seem nervous or impatient as he waited for me to respond. He just smiled slightly and reached up to gently caress my cheek.

Love. Of course I loved him but it didn't seem enough to say it.

All at once, our lips met with fiery abandon, my hands pressed to his cheeks. His arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me tight against his chest. There was the intent to show him how I felt with a vision but it was jumbled. Fireworks, flowers, images of us over the years, lips, hands. There was no real organization but he got the picture.

Before I knew what was happening he lifted me up, my legs wrapping around his waist and we turned, my back being pressed against the car as he pinned me in the air. One of his large hands tangled in my hair and pulled me even deeper into his kiss. Our tongues met and a whole new layer of the kiss was revealed. Breathing would be a problem soon.

It ended too soon. Jacob's hands moved to my waist as he slowly backed away from me and forced my feet back to the ground. His eyes were clouded with emotion and he just stared at me as we stood there. We had kissed before but it had never been like that. I didn't know what to say.

"I've been waiting all summer to be able to kiss you again." Jacob finally spoke, "And nothing in my wildest dreams would have been as good as that kiss."

I felt my lips turn and reveal my smile. My whole body felt light and warm and fuzzy and I knew exactly what he meant by dreams having no comparison.

"I love you." He repeated his earlier declaration and moved slowly back towards me, pulling my body flush against his. He leaned down to kiss me again but I stopped him, placing my finger against his lips and forcing him to pull back just slightly.

"If you kiss me again, I won't have the chance to say this." My grin widened, "I love you too Jacob Black."


	18. Identity: Chapter Sixteen

**_Author's Note: HOLY CRAP! I am SOOOO sorry I have kept you all waiting for an update for so long. It's unforgivable! (I hope you forgive me anyway) If it helps at all, this chapter is one of my favorites AND it's nice and long. :) Hope you all enjoy and keep those reviews coming! You all ROCK MY WORLD with the amazing words you send me. Whenever I sit and try to write, I come here first to check out reviews and you all are really what inspire me to keep going. I've been working on this chapter for a long time but I promise I will try to keep the updates coming just as fast as you read & enjoy this one!_  
**

**Chapter Sixteen**

**The Cullens**

Fall. The season of changing leaves, rustling wind and temperature drops. Bella Cullen stared out the window of her family's home and watched the trees sway. She noticed every leaf drop from it's branch and the meticulous details of the changing colors, even as they fell. Her vampire senses could tell that the temperature outside would be just above 30°F or -1°C. Even in the moonlight, the world seemed bright with the lives of the creatures moving about in the night air.

"Wanna go for a walk?" Edward's arms felt warm as he wrapped them around her waist and placed a gentle kiss on her neck, "Midnight snack?"

Bella grinned and allowed herself to relax into her husbands arms, leaning her head back against his shoulder.

"I don't really feel like hunting." Bella mumbled after a few moments of relaxation, "I was just watching."

Edward could sense his wife's melancholy. Most of the time she kept it hidden, tucked away in a tiny reservoir of her brain, masked. But once a year, she couldn't suppress it. September 11. It was a day of remembrance for the entire US nation but for the Cullen family, it held a completely different meaning.

"It's been almost 16 years since we lost her Bella." Edward whispered quietly.

"It's her birthday Edward. You can't expect me to just forget." Bella responded quickly.

Edward brushed his fingers against Bella's cheek, sweeping her hair to the side as he placed more kisses on her neck and collarbone before speaking.

"Of course not love. She's our daughter. We'll never forget her or her birthday."

They stood like that, staring out into the night together for hours. Neither said a word. They took breath not out of necessity, but out of habit and they just watched. Watched life go on and though they didn't talk about it, they were both thinking of their daughter Renesmee who would be 16 years old that day.

Downstairs, the rest of the Cullen family were going about their daily lives as usual. Rosalie was working on one of the cars in the garage while Emmett teased her. Carlisle was doing a crossword puzzle while Esme sat next to him and read a book she'd read 1,000 times before. Alice and Jasper stared at each other over a chess board which was still perfectly untouched, despite having been between the two for hours. And while they all looked like they were engrossed in completely normal activies, every one of them were also thinking about Renesmee, just as Edward and Bella were upstairs.

Alice could recount every second of their search for her niece. As soon as the Volturi had retreated from battle, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett had immediately taken off with Edward and Bella to go after Jacob and Renesmee while Carlisle and Esme had stayed behind to treat the injured wolves. But Jacob and Renesmee had over an hours head start on them. They had run as fast as they could but Jacob had been doing everything he could to cover their tracks. He knew vampires would be after them so he employed every trick in the book. It had backfired against the Cullens. They lost the trail a couple of times, falling behind more and more each time they had to find it again.

"Split up." Edward had commanded all of them as they finally found themselves in a Canadian airport. He grabbed Bella's hand and they had taken off in one direction while the others split off in opposite directions.

They had done everything they could to track Jacob and Renesmee in that airport without attracting too much attention from the humans. Looking at human speed meant they were losing more and more time and finally, when they were sure they had found the right scent, it ended at a closed boarding gate.

"Excuse me. Did Vanessa & Jacob Wolfe board this flight?" Bella asked the nearest airline crew member.

"I'm sorry ma'am. Passenger manifests are confidential." The crew member responded.

It had taken every ounce of strength Edward could muster to keep his wife from tackling the crew member immediately. While he struggled with her, Alice approached the woman sweetly.

"Please, whatever help you can give us. She's their daughter. They're just trying to get her back."

Whether it was the sense of peace that Jasper aided the woman with or whether she was just feeling helpful, the crew member turned to her computer and began to type. Rosalie tapped her foot impatiently while they waited.

"There was a Jacob & Vanessa Wolfe who boarded the flight. They are headed to Rio De Janeiro. If you can provide me some proof that you are her parents, I can have them detained when they land."

But Edward & Bella had no way of proving they were Vanessa Wolfe's parents. They were Renesmee Cullen's parents and Renesmee Cullen, for all intents and purposes, was not on that plane. Without causing a scene or doing something that could really get them into trouble with the Volturi, their hands were tied.

"Is there another flight leaving to Rio today? On your airline or any airline?" Alice asked the same crew member.

"Not on our airline ma'am and unfortunately, I don't have access to any of the other airlines flight schedules. If you head down to passenger check-in, it might take some time, but you should be able to find someone who has a flight open. Maybe split up so that you can all talk to different airlines at the same time."

They had no choice. They had all headed to the check in terminal and while Edward scanned the minds of the people in various lines, trying to gleam their destination from them, the rest of the family split up to approach different airlines.

"Bella." Edward suddenly called out to his wife and the entire group raced at human speeds to join him in the line where he was standing, "The woman at the front of the line who keeps checking her watch, she's trying not to miss her flight to Rio. She's running late."

"Leave it to me." Rosalie stepped out of the main line and headed directly to the counter through the frequent flyer and VIP line.

The people in line grumbled and started to complain but Rosalie just shot them a smile and then turned to the man working at the ticket counter.

"Hi. I'd like to get six tickets on your next flight to Rio de Janeiro. I understand there's one leaving very soon and we'd like to be on it." She opened her purse and pulled out a stack of cash, "There's a little extra in it for you if you can make it happen."

Thirty minutes later they were on a plane.

"We're so far behind them already and Jacob is doing exactly what I knew he would. He's protecting our little girl and making sure that any vampires following them have a hard time. What if we can't find them Edward?" Bella's was distraught as she looked over at her husband, "This is all my fault."

"This is not your fault." Edward pulled her into his embrace and kissed her forehead, "It's mine. This all started because of me."

Bella shook her head in defiance.

"Let's just find them so we both quit trying to blame ourselves."

A couple hours into the flight Alice groaned and turned around in her seat to look at Bella and Edward.

"Prepare now. There's going to be a malfunction in this plane and they're going to reroute our flight so we can board a new plane. Sorry. I was trying so hard to see what would happen when we landed in Rio that I didn't see this one coming." Alice grimaced and then sat back down.

Moments later the plane shook and within a few minutes the voice of the pilot came over the loudspeaker.

"Ladies & Gentleman, we apologize for any inconvenience. It looks like we've had a minor engine malfunction and are being rerouted to the nearest airport for an emergency landing. We don't foresee any further complications between here and there. This is strictly a precaution. So buckle up and we'll land shortly."

Alice turned around again and let out a weak smile.

"He's right. No more complications between here and there."

Rosalie growled from the seat behind Edward but Emmett calmed her. They spent the short remainder of the flight in silence.

"Just have a seat and wait here. We'll have a new plane ready to board just as soon as possible." The flight crew told them and given no other option, they obeyed and sat at the gate to wait.

"Anything else we should know?" Edward questioned Alice while they waited.

Alice sighed.

"The new plane is going to hit bad weather and we'll have to land again before arriving at our destination. More delays."

"Are you kidding me?" Rosalie exclaimed, "We don't have time for more delays."

"What are our options Alice?" Bella asked calmly, Jasper's influence keeping her emotions even.

"We don't have any. There are no other flights to Rio out of this airport. I tried that path but it would only lead us to missing this flight and we'd be left with none. We have to board this plane and be delayed again. When we land again, we can go on foot from there."

"Someone should call Carlisle and give him an update." Bella responded, "Edward?"

Edward nodded and stood, heading away from the gate as he took his cell phone from his pocket.

"I'm sorry Bella." Alice apologized, "I should have seen this coming."

"It's not your fault Alice." Bella moaned, "We just need to get there as soon as possible."

It took over an hour before a new plane was ready to board and another hour to get everyone settled and ready for takeoff. Bella had stopped trying to count how many hours they had lost and how many more they would lose when they would have to land again.

When it was all said and done, they were a full 24 hours behind Jacob & Renesmee and they had no idea where to go next. There was no scent to follow. They didn't have any idea where Jacob would have taken Renesmee as Bella had given him no further instruction other than to go to Rio. It was a large city. They could have been anywhere.

"Try to think like a wolf would think." Alice and Bella sat in a hotel room with no leads while the rest of their group were out hunting in the jungle. They had already been in Rio for a few days. Carlisle and Esme would be joining them soon.

"I don't know how wolves think." Bella responded exasperatedly.

"Bella, I know this is hard but…"

"Alice." Bella growled and Alice took a step back, "Just don't talk to me for a second okay? I am running out of ideas and I just need to focus."

"Okay." Alice retreated from the room and left Bella alone with her thoughts.

But the truth was, for Bella, even the infinite space of a vampire brain wasn't enough. Every one of her senses was panicking that she might not see her little girl again. She couldn't think of a single way to find her.

"Alice, make sure you keep an eye on Charlie. If Jacob somehow finds out that the Volturi let us go and we're alive, he'll go back to Forks. He'll go back to Charlie. So if Charlie disappears," Bella's voice trailed off.

"Then we'll know to go back." Alice nodded, "I am keeping an eye on Charlie."

"We think we found something." Rosalie and Emmett burst into the room just moments before Edward and Jasper.

Alice and Bella were immediately on their feet.

"There's a faint scent in the jungle. We're not positive it's theirs but it's headed west and we think it's the best lead we're gonna get." Emmett said.

"Then let's go." Bella headed for the door but Edward grabbed her arm to stop her. She looked up at him and he was watching Alice who was shaking her head.

"I see us heading west. We follow the scent to Argentina and then we lose it again. I see us searching jungles just like here but obviously, if I see it, we don't find them there." Alice sighed.

"It's a start." Bella argued, "All you saw was us searching the jungles here too until now, when we found something. So we go there and until we get another lead we work the one we have. We can't just sit around here though. We get farther and farther behind every second of every day."

None of them could argue with her. If she were still human, the emotion in her words and on her face would have translated into tears. She was desperate.

The scent did take them to Argentina and they searched the jungles and the villages hoping to find Jacob & Renesmee or at least a trace of them. They spent days there before meeting an American who had lived in the village for a few years. She told stories of creatures just like Renesmee, half-human and half-vampire. Bella questioned her while Edward listened to her thoughts.

"Half vampire you say? That's crazy." Bella faked a warm smile at this stranger, "What makes you believe such nonsense?"

"I always notice the new people to town but this one was different. She was extraordinarily beautiful, like you all are, but in a different way. She glowed and she had flecks of sparkle in her cheeks. Not overwhelming sparkle, but a shimmer. And when she spoke, it was like listening to bells ring. So when she told me she was half vampire, I don't know, I just believed her. She said she had been doing bad things for so long at the request of her father and she wanted to stop. She seemed hopeless and sad and alone. So I let her stay with me for awhile. I'm a single girl and I have extra room in my house. She couldn't be of any harm to anyone there."

"And you don't think she was just a crazy person? You didn't think she might hurt you?" Emmet interjected.

"At first, yes, I considered that she might be crazy, but she lived with me for awhile and we became friends. And then she decided she was ready for regular society and said she was moving to Chile. I haven't heard from her since."

Edward stepped forward suddenly and knelt in front of her, looking directly in her eyes.

"What about the man?" He asked calmly.

The woman suddenly looked scared as she tried to back away from Edward. She shook her head and started to lean away before Alice grabbed Edward and pulled him back a little bit.

"You're scaring her." Alice warned.

"She saw them." Edward took a deep calming breath and knelt again, a little further from the woman, "You saw a man and a little girl who reminded you of your friend, the half vampire."

The stranger frowned, silently wondering how he could have possibly known that information, but she nodded.

"Yes, I met a man. He had a little girl with him and he asked a lot of questions about the creature I had known. And the little girl, she had the same glow as my friend. Almost like her cheeks were glittering and the way she sighed in her sleep, like she dreamed of things she couldn't even know of at her age. I imagined her to be the daughter of my beautiful friend. I don't know for sure that they were the same kind of creature. The man who held her just asked questions. He gave no answers. But he wasn't her father. That I'm positive of."

Bella looked up at Edward, hopeful for the first time in days. He nodded, confirming this woman was telling the truth.

"Did this man tell you where he was going? Where he was taking the little girl?" Bella questioned.

The woman shrugged and shook her head.

"I told him that my friend had moved to Chile. He seemed interested. Maybe he headed that direction." She shrugged, "I don't know for sure."

"What did you say your name was?"

"Bonnie." She said quietly, still watching them inquisitively, "My name is Bonnie."

"Bonnie, could we ask you a huge favor." Alice stepped into the conversation, "Could you deliver a letter for us?"

"Um, sure. I know everyone in town and most in the neighboring cities. Who are you writing to?"

"Actually, it needs to be hand delivered to a town in Washington." Edward read Alice's thoughts and followed in the same direction, "We'll pay for your flight and any accommodations. We'll give you money just for doing it for us. It's just, we have friends who are also looking for that man and since we're the ones looking, we can't be the ones delivering word back to them. We need to continue our search."

Bonnie frowned.

"Isn't that what telephones are for?"

Edward and Alice both shook their heads.

"We need the message hand delivered. Just take the note. Drop it in a mailbox. And if you like the area, maybe you'd like to stay for awhile. We have a house there. A really nice one. You are welcome to use it until we find who we're looking for."

Bella watched the exchange, thoroughly confused as were Jasper, Rosalie & Emmett, but they all played along, waiting for Bonnie to give them an answer.

"Yeah, okay." She finally nodded, "This is the weirdest interaction I have ever had with anyone in my life but something tells me I should do it."

Edward instructed Bella to write a quick update note to Billy and send it with Bonnie. They gave Bonnie very detailed instructions for where she was going and what she was to do and as soon as they had left her at the nearest airport, they let Esme & Carlisle know to prepare the house in Forks for Bonnie to live in temporarily.

"I'm still confused. Why exactly did we just send that human to live in our house and deliver a letter to Billy?" Rosalie questioned.

"We just saved her life." Alice finally explained, "The Volturi are on their way to this area of the world. They're cleaning up after Nahuel's father and Bonnie would have been a casualty. I saw it and I saw that if we sent her to Washington, she'd be useful in our search. So we saved her."

They wasted no more time before heading for Chile. Knowing that Jacob & Renesmee had made it safely to Argentina at the very least gave them renewed hope.

But in Chile their luck ran out. They didn't find Jacob & Renesmee. They didn't find the Bonnie's friend either. They searched for days, then weeks and months. Carlisle & Esme joined them in the search, the whole family branching out into the neighboring countries; Bolivia, Peru and then further north into Ecuador & Colombia. There were plenty of stories of these creatures, but none to actually be found. Their hope waned with every passing day.

After a year of searching South America & Central America, moving up into Mexico and the southern United States, they had still found nothing. Bella had been sending letters to Billy through Bonnie, but they had less and less to report everyday.

"I think we should seriously consider asking the Volturi for help." Carlisle suggested one afternoon as they waited for the sun to go down in Georgia, "They know everything. They already determined we are not a threat and Renesmee is not a threat. Maybe I can go to them and ask if they know where she is."

"No. That's crazy Carlisle. You know they won't help us without something in return." Rosalie argued, "They're not friendly."

"But we have no leads." Esme argued on behalf of her husband, "We have no more answers today than we did a year ago when they disappeared."

"We can't go there. That would be insane." Rosalie rebuked again.

"Rose." Bella chimed in from where she had been watching the sun set on the horizon, "Carlisle's right. They know everything. We should go."

"Bella." Edward sighed, "They won't help us. You know that."

"I don't know anything anymore." Bella replied, "I thought I knew what was best for our daughter and I ended up sending her into the world with Jacob never to be seen again. I thought that we would find them a long time ago but here we are with nothing. At least going to the Volturi is doing something. I can't stand one more day sitting in this house, waiting for the sun to set so we can go search a city that is clearly devoid of our daughter's life."

"I know you're worried and frustrated love but the Volturi?" Edward shook his head but Bella wasn't listening.

"I've made up my mind. Come with me or not but this is the first new idea anyone has had in months. My last letter to Billy said we would try anything and now I am trying anything. I'm taking the next flight out."

Bella was out of the room in an instant. They could hear her throwing her few belongings into a suitcase, clearly getting ready to leave for Italy.

Edward listened to Carlisle's thoughts.

"_They may help us Edward. Give Bella at least a glimmer of hope. She's so devoid of any life these days. She needs hope."_

"I'll get my bag." Edward resigned his argument, "We should stick together as a family. Strength in numbers."

"This isn't going to work." Alice forewarned with a groan, "They won't help us."

"Alice, honey, we need to do something." Esme reached out and patted Alice's shoulder, "Just come along with us."

Alice sighed as she watched the rest of her family leave the room to pack, leaving only Jasper at her side.

"It's like they forget that I can see the future." She said quietly.

"They didn't forget Alice." Jasper kissed her forehead softly, "They just want to believe that something they do is going to change the future."

In present day, Alice broke from her reverie and looked up at Jasper, smiling instantly. She shook her head.

"I wouldn't move that pawn if I were you. Check mate in 11 moves."

Jasper smiled back and sighed.

"We could be at this all night." He said simply.

Alice nodded.

"I could think of much better ways to spend our evening."

A wicked grin spread across Alice's face as she jumped up and ran from the room, Jasper instantly on her heals as they ran through the house squealing and yelling playfully. For everyone it was a welcome distraction from where their thoughts had been a moment earlier. At least, it was until Bella and Edward came downstairs, instantly freezing Alice & Jasper in their tracks. They knew what would be on Bella's mind and they didn't want to make it any worse.

"It's okay you guys. Yes, today is her birthday, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun. If she was here with us, she would want us to be having fun." Bella sighed and sat down in the nearest chair, Edward perching on the arm next to her immediately, "Although Alice, I know I told you a long time ago to stop looking in on Charlie but today…"

Alice nodded.

"I know. It's tradition. We always look in on Charlie on Renesmee's birthday." Alice sat on Bella's other side and reached around her to squeeze her in a quick hug, "Give me one second."

Alice closed her eyes and focused in on finding Charlie, where she assumed he would be, at home in Forks. She only checked on him once a year but she had never had a problem locating him. Until now.

She frowned.

"Alice, what's wrong?" Bella immediately questioned, "Is my dad okay?"

"I can't find him." Alice concentrated harder, her eyes still closed, but she shook her head, "He's not there. I mean, I can't see him."

Bella grabbed Edwards hand and squeezed tightly. A million emotions ran through her body at the same time.

"Do you think he…" She couldn't bear to say the word, "Did he…?"

"Wait." Alice suddenly got a fuzzy glimpse of something, a woman, smiling and looking at Charlie with adoration, "No, I got something. Hold on."

She continued to concentrate and the image became clearer. The woman was a bit younger than Charlie but still aged around her eyes. They were sitting on the couch in Charlie's living room, the TV on in the background but they weren't paying attention to it. Instead, they faced each other, laughing, sharing a joke and a beer.

"He looks happy." Alice smiled, "I must have just had trouble finding him cause it's been so long. He's fine."

She watched the scene for a moment longer, missing Charlie and enjoying watching a moment of his future as if she were watching a movie. She was going to watch for a few more seconds but suddenly the scene went black again.

"Hmm." Alice opened her eyes and looked at Bella, "That's so weird. It went black again. I lost it."

"Maybe your antenna's broken." Emmett joked from his perch in the doorway where he and Rosalie had entered from the garage.

"Shut up Emmett." Alice chucked the nearest pillow she could grab in Emmett's direction, "It's really weird. Let me try someone else. Bonnie should be easy to find."

Alice focused in on the woman they had met so many years ago in Argentina. The woman who had served as their courier turned realtor when then needed to sell their house in Forks. She was a vampire now, thanks to the Volturi, and they hadn't spoken to her in years but Alice was confident she would be a fairly easy target.

"Here we go. Bonnie enjoying Italy. Looks like a party at the Volturi mansion. The usual things that go along with that." Alice shook away that vision easily and shrugged, "Crystal clear. There's nothing wrong with my sight."

"Try Charlie again." Edward encouraged her, "Maybe it was a fluke."

Alice nodded and focused in on Charlie again. The same scene unfolded in front of her. Charlie and the unknown woman laughing. They were a few beers past the previous scene. Their laughter was heartier now. She saw the woman chuckle and lean forward, placing her hand on Charlie's knee. Alice giggled as she saw them both freeze. It was like this was the first time they were realizing they were attracted to each other. Then the scene went black again.

"Dammit." Alice cursed, her eyes flying open. "This is annoying. I haven't had lapse in vision since the freaking wolves used to…"

Alice's voice trailed off and she slowly looked up at Edward, a million thoughts racing through her head that only he could hear.

"That's not possible Alice." Edward answered her unheard ideas. "It's not possible."

"What's not possible?" Emmett questioned moving closer to the rest of the group, "What's your theory?"

Bella looked back and forth between Edward and Alice, her eyes widening as she realized what they were thinking.

"Edward? Could it be?"

"No." Edward shook his head, "No. If they were alive we would have found them, a long time ago. It can't be Bella. Don't get your hopes up."

"Wait. You think that your vision is disappearing because Jacob & Renesmee are with Charlie?" Rosalie chimed in now, "That's impossible Alice. There has to be a more reasonable explanation."

"Well it's not one of the other Quileute wolves. They stopped phasing a long time ago and when they did that I could start seeing them again. They became human. They don't block my visions." Alice reasoned, "And there's nothing wrong with my visions. It's just Charlie who goes in an out."

"There was that one time that Bonnie swore she met Renesmee in Montana." Esme offered, as if that would help to explain this new possibility.

"We checked that out." Edward countered, "We went there. There was no trace of her anywhere in that town. Please don't do this. You're gonna get Bella's hopes up again."

"Edward, what if it is her? I mean, it is possible that she's not dead isn't it? She and Jake could still be out there and we just never found them?" Bella's hopes were already up, "We just had nothing to go on."

"Bella, the Volturi told us that she was dead." Edward looked at his wife and around at his family, anger in his eyes like they had never seen directed at them, "They told us we would never find her because she was dead and so we stopped looking. You remember that? We went to Italy and we asked for help and they told us the one thing we didn't want to hear. We looked for four years after that Bella out of sheer hope that they had lied to us and we came up with nothing. Four hopeless, cruel, punishing years and then we gave up."

"Edward." Carlisle tried to calm his son by placing a hand on his shoulder but Edward shrugged it off and stepped away from the group.

"Renesmee is dead. Do all of you understand that? She is dead. And as much as any of us want that to not be true, I will not go through this again. Every five years or so we'll think we have this amazing lead and we'll go chasing after it only to find that we were wrong and the lead was nothing and we are hopelessly crushed all over again. I won't do it. It was hard enough losing my daughter the first time."

"Edward." Bella stood and moved towards her husband, "Don't be upset with them. I'm sorry."

Edward shook his head at her and walked away, leaving all of them silent and unmoving.

After a few moments Bella followed him.

"It's them." Alice dared to whisper milliseconds later, "I just know it Carlisle. They're alive. There's no other explanation."

Carlisle looked out of the room in the direction that Edward and Bella had disappeared and then back at the rest of his family, sighing roughly.

"We have to follow Edwards wishes Alice. Imagine what it will do to them if we come up with nothing again." Carlisle frowned, "Edward is right. It was hard enough to lose Renesmee the first time. He & Bella have been through enough."

"We've all been through this together." Rosalie countered, "She's our niece, your granddaughter. We don't get a say in whether we follow this lead?"

"Please respect her parents wishes." Carlisle said resolutely, "No matter how right you may be."


	19. Identity: Chapter Seventeen

**_Author's Note: I just want to apologize for making you all wait so long for another update. I'm not going to make any false promises that I will update faster this time, because my life always seems to get in the way. I do want to thank ALL of you for the AMAZING reviews and feedback I've gotten for this story. You guys are really the ones who inspire me to keep going. I even got a review this time from someone appearing to be Stephanie Meyer herself... could be fake, I'm not getting my hopes up, but kind words from ANYONE are always nice to hear and see. Please keep reviewing and keep reading and I'll attempt to continue to be inspired (and speedy). Enjoy! :)_  
**

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Jacob POV**

"Home Sweet Home." Renesmee dropped her duffel bag in the middle of the floor inside the huge furnished condo we had just stepped foot in for the first time, "Rich foster parents are the best."

I'm sure my mouth was hanging open as we surveyed our surroundings. We were standing on hardwood floors looking directly into the open living space which housed the living room, dining room and kitchen. There were stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, a granite dining room table with cream colored suede leather chairs and a living room set the exact same color as the dining room chairs. A huge flat screen TV hung on the wall amidst the leather couches but it was the little things that were amazing me. The area rugs that looked as thick as the moss that lined the forest floors back in Forks. The view overlooking the water from what appeared to be a balcony just outside the sliding glass door. The vanilla scented candles that were lining the kitchen counter top where black leather bar stools sat.

"I wonder what's behind door number one." Renesmee sauntered across the room and opened a door to her left.

I followed her, still amazed and not quite prepared to find out what was behind door number one.

"It's a bedroom." Renesmee noted as she looked around at the furnishings.

A king sized bed with a chocolate brown leather headboard sat against one gray blue wall. Across from it there was another flat screen TV mounted to the wall under which sat a chocolate brown dresser. There were matching chocolate brown nightstands and even a chocolate leather armchair in the corner.

"Can't be the master bedroom though. It's too small." Renesmee said turning to exit the room again, "Moving on to door number two."

There were double doors directly across the living area which Renesmee headed to next. They opened to reveal a small office space, with another TV mounted on the wall. There was also a sizable desk with a laptop already sitting on top of it as well as a plush sofa in the corner.

"Is there going to be a TV in every room of this house? How many people did your foster parents think were going to live here?"

Renesmee just laughed at my question as she closed the doors again and turned to her right.

"There's only one thing that could be behind door number three." She wiggled her eyebrows at me suggestively and then swung open the door in front of her.

It didn't hit me until the door was wide open what she expected to be behind that door, and she was exactly right. In the master bedroom, all the walls were painted white except the one housing the biggest bed I had ever seen. As the backdrop for the black & white patterned fabric canopy over the bed, the purple accent wall made the room come alive. On the bed there was a white monogrammed comforter over black sheets and a purple bed skirt which somehow matched the wall perfectly. Above all of this, in the middle of the room, hung a black chandelier. Against the wall nearest me was a black armoire which Renesmee swung open dramatically. The inside was painted the same purple that was recurring in the rest of the room and it was already housing more shoes than I could count. Ironically, this seemed to be the only room in the house that wasn't furnished with a TV.

"Let me guess." I moved towards the door to my right inside the bedroom, "Walk in closet?"

Sure enough, there was a huge, fully stocked, closet behind the door I swung open which led to another door which led to the master bathroom. The entire place was beyond my imagination and I was sure there was still more to be seen. I couldn't imagine who would rent a condo this large for their 18 year old college student away from home for the first time.

"Jake."

I turned around when Renesmee called out to me and found her lounging on the bed seductively. Her long legs glistened in the sun pouring in from the nearby window, only barely covered by the white shorts she was wearing. Her hair was glowing, hanging to the side just slightly over her shoulder. I could see where it was tickling the inside of her right arm. She shivered just a little from the sensation.

"You're gonna get me in trouble." I groaned, walking towards her slowly, not bothering to close the bathroom or closet doors behind me.

"With who exactly? We're all alone, in our own condo, with no parental units anywhere to be found. Marnie stayed in Forks. Charlie is there to help her get settled. Your dad and Sue are still on the reservation and my parents are dead."

"You parents aren't dead." I reached the edge of the bed, just barely out of reach from the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, "They're missing."

"Dead until graduation." Renesmee retorted, cocking her head even more to the side, letting more of her hair flow over onto her chest, "That just leaves the amazing foster parents who rented this beautiful place for us and they are far, far away so I'm pretty sure, there's no one here to bust us."

As she spoke the last few words of her sentence, she sat up and shimmied over to me on her knees, wrapping her arms around my neck and pressing her body against mine. She pressed her fingers to my cheek and showed me an image she was clearly fond of. It was my lips.

"Ten minutes in a place of our own and you're already determined to jump me huh?" I smirked, letting my hands fall to her waist. I drew gentle circles on the exposed skin where her tank top was rising up just slightly. I let my lips get closer to her face, but I didn't kiss her.

"Well, maybe not jump you, but definitely make out with you on my bed." She grinned and moved to close the space between our lips. I moved my face back before her lips connected.

"Our bed." I whispered and she just laughed.

"My bed." She responded and motioned with her head to the rest of the condo, "Door number one is your room."

Her statement shocked me just long enough that she was able to close the gap and kiss me quickly before I pulled away, her laughing loudly and falling backwards onto the bed while I stood there in shock.

It had been 14 days since Renesmee and I's relationship had changed yet again. We were closer now than ever, clearly and completely in love. This was the role I had always hoped I could play in her life. Best friend, boyfriend and eventually husband and lover. We spent our days kissing and cuddling and laughing together. She would show me romantic visions of flowers and candles and the two of us walking hand in hand on the beach. But with it all being so new for the both of us, it wasn't that I had expected us to share a room and a bed when we made it to Dartmouth, but I guess in a way I hadn't expected not to either.

After her foster parents had sent Renesmee the information for where she would be living at Dartmouth, we began making plans of when we would leave Forks and head out to New Hampshire. We had decided that we would stay in Forks until her birthday so she could celebrate officially turning 16 with Charlie and then we would leave, with a promise to visit on school holidays of course.

It had been on Renesmee's birthday that Marnie had announced she was staying in Forks with Charlie until she could get on her feet. She didn't realize that I saw the way she looked at Charlie. The little glances she would give him. She also didn't realize that I saw the way Charlie looked at her. I would bet good money she would still be living with him at Christmas.

So now we had made it to Dartmouth and discovered our new apartment, which her foster parents had no idea I would be occupying with her, and I was left wondering exactly what my expectations of living alone with Renesmee were. Of course, it had almost always been the two of us against the world but we had never actually spent long periods of time cohabiting alone together. She was usually living with a foster family or if we were on the run, in hotels, we didn't stay in one place for very long. This was new and completely uncharted territory for us. A place of our own, to live in together, for four years, without having to run away or live in fear. We could just be happy here together.

Renesmee must have sensed how deep in thought I had become because her laughter stopped and she sat back up, sitting cross legged in the middle of the bed now, staring at me with her head cocked inquisitively to the side.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked quietly.

The 17 year old boy in me who was finally getting everything he had ever dreamed of wanted to push Renesmee back on that bed and ravish her until night fall, then take her hunting for nourishment and repeat the process of ravishment again until dawn however, I knew better. I was still her protector. We were going to have to take this slow.

"I was thinking that you're right. Door number one needs to be my room."

Her smile quickly turned into a pout.

"Jake, I was just kidding. Of course you can share my room and my bed. It's our room and our bed."

I shook my head no and sighed, moving to sit behind her on the bed, pulling her into my arms.

"We have to take this slow Ness. Living together, just the two of us, in this place where we can do anything we want and be safe and happy. This is my dream for us, but we also can't just rush into a physical relationship. I still need to protect you honey."

Renesmee turned and touched her fingers to my face. The message that came across was very clear. She was telling me "I know you won't hurt me."

"Of course I won't hurt you." I responded to her vision, "When the time comes for us to move into that part of our relationship when we start having…"

My voice trailed off and I couldn't bear to say the word sex. Even the thought of it brought a lot of images into my head that I shouldn't be thinking if I wanted to take this slow. Renesmee pressed her fingers to my cheek again and I had to laugh as I watched the image of two bears going at it in the woods. It was something she had accidentally seen when she was younger and we were hunting together.

"Yeah, that." I leaned forward and kissed her temple, "I love you. That will never change and I'm just super grateful that we're here, at Dartmouth, together. So let's take this slow okay? Separate rooms. Lots of kissing."

She grinned and nodded, turning around in my arms and wrapping herself around me as she threaded her fingers through my hair. I didn't need any of her magical visions to be able to see the fireworks explode inside my brain as she kissed me passionately. My resolve to take things slow was already waning with her body pressed against mine as we sank into the sea of throw pillows. I couldn't breathe but I didn't care because I had Renesmee in my arms, her lips against mine and our limbs tangled together.

Then the incredible moment was broken by a knock on the front door.

Renesmee and I froze, looking towards the front door but not moving to go near it. We didn't know anyone in the building, or the town, or the state for that matter. There was no reason for someone to be knocking on the front door.

I assessed the situation based on instinct, the way we always had. I could hear two clear regular heartbeats outside the front door, so they were human. A light fresh lavender scent which very distinctly did not belong to either Renesmee or I was wafting from underneath the door and into our living space, so at least one of the humans was female. I heard them whispering to each other, two females. They were debating leaving a basket of muffins on our doorstep.

"It's the welcome wagon." I stated, pulling Renesmee up from the bed and ushering her towards the front door, "They're friendly. Come on."

I swung open the front door while Renesmee was still running her fingers through her disheveled curls, surprising the two girls on the other side so much that they almost dropped the basket of muffins they were holding.

"Can I help you?" It was almost too easy to make them flustered as I deepened the tone of my voice to speak to them.

"Oh um, hi, uh, I'm Myra and uh, this is Lucy and um, we saw that you just moved in today and uh, we thought we'd bring you this uh, basket of muffins cause um, everyone likes muffins and they're fresh cause I uh, I made them this morning. I uh, I like to bake."

Myra was barely more than 5 foot tall and was clearly amazed by my 6'7" stature. Even Renesmee, being about 5'8", towered over the small girl. And she was definitely a girl, probably no older than Renesmee was supposed to be, maybe 19 or 20. She had stick straight white blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, pale complexion and clothes right out of a catalog. She was exactly what you would imagine upper crust New England society to look like.

Lucy was a stark contrast to Myra. She was about the same height as Renesmee but with deep olive colored skin, hazel eyes and the darkest brown lightly curled hair I had ever seen. She was a little older than Myra, probably 21 or 22, a graduate student maybe and she was very well put together. She dressed more like a casual business woman in a suit vest, white tee shirt and tailored pants rather than a preppy college kid. She was analyzing us, but she didn't say a word.

"Thank you." Renesmee responded to Myra's rambling speech as she reached forward and gently took the basket of muffins from the girls hand, "I had no idea the neighbors here would be so welcoming."

"Well your mom was here decorating last week and she told me I just had to meet you as soon as you got here cause we were gonna be great friends. I think we will be great friends don't you? Lucy doesn't like to do a lot of the social things like mixers and book club but I bet you do. You do, don't you?"

Myra was clearly less effected by Renesmee then she was by me, as her stuttering ceased and she talked like she was powered by Energizer. I could feel my eyes getting wider the more she rambled on.

"Your mom didn't say you were bringing a guy with you though. Is he just helping you move in or is he staying? Is he your boyfriend? Should we keep him a secret? I won't tell anyone. You can trust me with anything."

"Alright My, that's enough." Lucy finally spoke and did us all a favor by placing her hand over Myra's mouth, "I'm so sorry. She gets nervous and she starts rambling. We're gonna go. Enjoy the muffins. And um, right, we know you're Carlie because we met your mom and you are?"

"Jacob." I shook Lucy's hand and so did Renesmee. Lucy just smiled.

"It really is nice to meet you both and I promise, we are not nosy neighbors. I will keep Myra far away."

Lucy started to back away from the door slowly, pulling Myra with her but Myra was objecting.

"But I want to be friends. They want to be friends. Carlie, I wrote my number down for your mom. She said she was gonna leave it for you. Call me sometime." The last word of her sentence trailed off as Lucy pulled Myra down the nearest hallway and we shut the door.

"O. M. G." Renesmee spoke very clearly, "That girl is insane."

She carried the basket of muffins into the kitchen and plopped it onto the counter before turning back around to look at me with an amused look on her face. She cocked her head to the side and flipped her hair over her shoulder mockingly.

"And then I was like, I told your mom we were gonna be BFF's and we're gonna like hang out and do all this fun stuff and do you like pretzels? I like pretzels. How about puppies? Puppies are cute. I like puppies. When's your birthday? We're probably the same sign. I can feel it. We're so close already."

Renesmee's imitation of Myra had me laughing hysterically. She continued to mock for several minutes while I laughed before we finally settled down and fell onto the couch together.

"I guess I should call Paul & Nancy. Myra had one good point which is Nancy has been to this place and she's talked to people and she has no clue I have you living here so if someone tells her, that could be a problem. I'm gonna have to tell them." Renesmee's head was lounged on the back of the couch and she looked over at me, her nose scrunched up the way she always did when she didn't want to do something.

"What are you gonna tell her? You have your boyfriend living with you in a condo they paid for? I don't think that usually goes over very well with parents."

"But they're not really my parents Jake." Renesmee sighed, knowing that was the weakest argument she could come up with, "Maybe I just come up with a semi-truth like I met you on my road trip and we've become friends and you were just going to help me move in and then be on your way, but then I saw there were two bedrooms and I offered to let you stay for awhile."

The story wasn't half bad, not that I thought they would buy it, but I didn't have anything better to tell them, so she was going to have to try.

"Hey Paul, it's Carlie." Renesmee held the phone to her ear and smiled, playing the part of innocent foster daughter perfectly, "I'm great, how are you?"

There was a pause while he talked and she nodded while listening.

"Yeah, the place is amazing. It's so big. You really didn't have to do this for me." She smiled again, as if he could hear her smiling from the other side of the phone, "I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. Yeah, the uh, the second room has come in handy already actually. I made a friend on my road trip and when I realized there was a second bedroom here I offered to let him stay for a few months. Yes, male. No, we're not having sex."

Her face crumpled and I could tell this phone conversation was taking an awkward turn.

"No, I promise. No sex. We're friends. He will have his room and I'll have mine. Well, yeah, he's attractive but… No really, we're not doing that. Could we not talk about sex? This is really weird."

I had to resist the urge to start laughing as she pulled the phone away from her ear and mock groaned.

"Rent? Well, no, we hadn't discussed that. I figured, I don't pay rent so I wouldn't need to charge him for that. Yes sir, technically it's your house so it's your rules. Um, yes, hold on."

Renesmee put the phone down and whispered just loud enough for me to hear.

"He wants to talk to you."

This time it was my turn to mock groan as I reached for the phone. This was not going to be good. I had no experience talking to girls' fathers, unless you count Charlie and Edward, and I didn't count either of them.

"Hello." I placed the phone to my ear and waited. There was not a friendly reply.

"What's your name?" Paul asked me curtly.

"Um, Jacob." I responded nervously.

"Last name?"

It took me a second to remember what ID I was carrying with me these days. My last name changed more often than I could really ever keep track of.

"Blackfoot." I said, "Jacob William Blackfoot."

"Blackfoot huh? You American Indian?"

"Yes sir." I could at least be honest about that, not that it really mattered.

"Well Jacob, that girl, standing there in front of you, for all intents and purposes is my incredibly beautiful, intelligent and amazing daughter Carlie. And she means the world to my wife and I, and our other two children. So I want to make this very clear to you, that I don't like you living with her, under a roof that I paid for. I don't know you. I've never met you and I don't trust you."

"Sir, I promise to my very core that I will do absolutely nothing to harm your incredibly beautiful, intelligent and amazing daughter. I want nothing but the best for her sir." Well, that part was honest too.

"I want you to not think she's beautiful or amazing. I can think that but you are not allowed."

"Uh, yes sir." I gulped, this wasn't going as well as I'd hoped, "Would it help sir if you met me and could see for yourself that I'm a good guy? I have 100% honorable intentions towards Carlie. I will do whatever it takes for you to believe that."

There was silence for a moment. He seemed to be contemplating my words. Maybe this would turn around after all.

"Yes, I think you're right. Nancy and I will make a trip out there. I have a little break in work in the middle of October. I'm sure that our other children won't mind missing a few days of school. We'll make it a family trip." Paul sounded very resolute, "So you can live there until then. Once I meet you, I'll make a final decision. And you will pay rent if I let you live there. This is not a place for freeloaders. $300 a month. Give it to Carlie. She and I will make arrangements for how to handle it from there."

"Yes sir." I agreed.

"Give the phone back to my daughter now."

I handed the phone back to Renesmee and shivered, indicating to her how creepy that conversation was for me. She giggled but made sure to sound serious when she got back on the phone.

"Hi Paul." She said quietly, "Yes sir. I understand. No sir, you have my word. Okay. Tell Nancy and the kids I said hi. Okay. Bye."

Renesmee hung up the phone and exhaled loudly as she tossed it onto the couch.

"So the family is coming out in a couple weeks and you're supposed to pay rent huh?" She questioned me.

"Apparently." I responded, nodding slowly, "I didn't know what else to say. He sounded so stern and angry. The only thing I could think was that if he met me he'd loosen up. Who doesn't like me after they've met me right?"

"Well, you look like you're 26. He might not like that too much." Renesmee smiled as she saw my face drop, "I'm just kidding Jake. Of course he'll like you. And if he doesn't, we could always change our names and drop off the grid for awhile."

She sauntered over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck, her grin widening with every second.

"But if we did that, what would you do about Dartmouth?"

She shrugged.

"I'll be this age forever Jake. We can always try again later."

I laughed loudly and scooped her up into my arms, her legs instantly wrapping around my waist as I spun her around the room. She screamed happily until I dropped her on her bed and crawled on top of her, then suddenly her breathing became heavy and she was very quiet. I loved knowing that I had that affect on her, yet it was that affect that was going to make resisting her so much harder.

"I love you Renesmee Carlie Cullen." I whispered, moving a strand of her hair from her face and kissing the spot it had previously occupied across her temple.

"I love you too Jacob William Black…foot."

I laughed.

"I really hope that ID is what's in my wallet right now." I admitted, "Cause I left most of our alternate identification on the reservation when we left."

"What?" Renesmee balked, "Jake, that's not safe. I know we're pretty sure no one has been after us for 15 years but really?"

I shrugged.

"I brought a couple so we can get out of any situation we might get into, but I didn't see the point in lugging everything with us anymore. We're not running now. We're just two normal kids in love, living in New Hampshire while you attend Dartmouth. Do we really need dozens of alternate identities?"

Her face relaxed and she shook her head no.

"I guess we don't." She resolved, "It just feels so weird Jake. We've never been normal kids before. Or, normal adults as the case may be now. We have our own place and we're at Dartmouth. It's really happening this time."

I kissed her softly and squeezed her body tighter against mine for reassurance.

"It's really happening Ness. You're a college student now. We're together. We have our whole lives ahead of us and we're not running from anything anymore."

Her grin returned and she spoke only loud enough for me to hear.

"I like the sound of that."


	20. Identity: Chapter Eighteen

**_Author's Note: Yay! New chapter and it didn't take me months! :) Today, you get a new chapter AND a cover image for the story. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and I hope you all enjoy this chapter._  
**

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Alice & Jasper Cullen**

The air smelled like moss and that incredible fresh scent the ground makes after a fresh wave of rain hits it. The wind blowing through the fir and maple trees surrounding her made the blend of aromas extra refreshing. Alice missed this scent. It was something she hadn't been able to experience in 16 years. The resonating smell of Northern Washington.

From her perch in the trees, Alice could see for miles. Downtown Forks was bustling with cars and shoppers, making their last minute purchases for Thanksgiving. Six days and counting to the big holiday. She was hoping to have a very special present for her family to be thankful for this year. Something money couldn't buy; her niece.

"What's the plan?" Jasper was perched on a branch directly below Alice and he looked up at her inquisitively, "We just wait until Charlie comes home and ambush him for information?"

"You know we can't do that." Alice sighed, swinging from her branch to Jaspers with the quickness of a lightning bolt, landing as softly as a feather as she crouched in front of him, "Charlie can't see us or talk to us. Then he'll know we're alive and he'll know more about the vampire world than he needs to and that puts him in danger with the Volturi. They already warned us about any more humans being alerted to the ways of our world. Bonnie was the last straw."

Jasper nodded.

"Lucky for her that one of Aro's minions fell for her and turned her."

"And lucky for us that she harbors no resentment towards us for getting her caught up in all of this." Alice sighed, "No, we can't involve Charlie but, if we can listen to him and that woman talk maybe they'll talk about her or maybe we can sneak into the house when they're not there and find proof that she's alive. I know she is Jasper. I just need proof so we can convince Edward & Bella."

"Think they were suspicious of us taking a 'vacation' right before Thanksgiving?"

"I think we did an excellent job of keeping our thoughts from Edward and we'll be back before they really have a chance to analyze our whereabouts." Alice stared down at Charlie's house and sighed, "That woman never leaves."

They could hear her moving around inside. She washed the dishes and did laundry and even when she wasn't as active and the house was really quiet they could still hear tiny brush strokes and they assumed she was painting. They saw her through the windows sometimes with paint splattered on her clothes and in her hair.

"Still haven't figured out who she is." Jasper frowned towards the house, contemplating, "She doesn't seem to be romantically involved with Charlie but she lives with him."

"She likes him." Alice countered, "Whenever he's around, her heart beat quickens. I just wish they would talk about something other than the weather and baseball already. How many conversations can you really have about the weather and baseball?"

"Well, there was the one promising conversation about the holidays. They said 'the kids' are coming. Who do you think 'the kids' are?"

"Renesmee and Jacob of course." Alice retorted, "And if we have to, we'll stay in this tree until Thanksgiving to see that for ourselves but I was kind of hoping to have everyone reunited by Thanksgiving. I need evidence now."

Alice adjusted herself on the tree branch and let her foot dangle downwards towards the lush forest ground. Jasper smiled at her.

"I'm gonna go catch us a snack. I'll be back." He kissed her quickly and then went racing off through the trees, leaving Alice to observe and listen to the inhabitants of the house below.

The phone rang and she heard the woman in the house get up to answer it. Her interest was immediately heightened and Alice listened intently.

"Hey you." The woman said with a smile in her voice, "How's school? You done with finals yet?"

Alice wanted to get closer so she might be able to make out the voice on the other end of the phone, but she knew she couldn't risk it.

"I'm so proud of you honey. I'm sure you did fine and just think, if you didn't, you have forever to try again."

Alice frowned. That sounded like an immortality joke, but there was no way this woman would actually know about Renesmee's heritage, would she?

"Uh oh, bad news?" Alice could hear the smile fade, "Oh no, Charlie's gonna be disappointed. He was really looking forward to you guys being here for the holidays. No, I understand. They're paying for your college and your housing and you owe them. I just wish you could tell them you have other family who would like to see you too."

Alice was now thoroughly confused and frustrated. It's like this woman was purposely not using names or information that could be useful to her. Who wasn't coming? What college? What other family would take them away from this family?

"Oh honey, it's okay. They get you for Thanksgiving and we'll get you for Christmas. We'll just have to live with that. I love you both too. Take care of yourselves. Call me soon and we'll see you in a few more weeks."

The call ended and Alice growled in frustration. Instinctively she knew that had been Renesmee on the phone, but she still had no proof.

"Eat up." Jasper appeared as quickly as he had disappeared and handed Alice a terrified squirrel who was trying to squirm from his grasp.

"Not hungry." Alice sighed, taking the squirrel from Jasper and letting him scurry away unharmed, "I swear to you, Renesmee just called and they had an entire phone conversation without giving me any proof or further hints as to her whereabouts."

"Really?" Jasper looked down at the house and then back at Alice and sighed, "Maybe we need to create a distraction Alice. I could risk going down there and setting off a car alarm or maybe even knock on the door and talk to her like I'm a traveling salesman. Distract her long enough for you to get in the house and see what you can find."

Alice shook her head no.

"There's a chance that this woman knows what we look like. If Charlie has pictures or God forbid that she knows about Renesmee's powers and has been shown a vision of us, you can't risk that. And I doubt she'll leave the house for a car alarm. Those things go off all the time."

As if to illustrate her point, a car alarm went off at the exact moment on a nearby street. Alice pointed in it's direction and Jasper nodded, knowing that she was right.

In the house they could hear the dialing of the phone and their attentions turned to listen to the new phone conversation.

"Charlie, it's Marnie."

"Marnie." Jasper and Alice mouthed to each other, finally having a name to call her.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I know, I don't usually call you while you're working but the kids just called and it looks like they're not gonna make it for Thanksgiving. I know, I was looking forward to it too but the foster parents called and said they wanted to spend Thanksgiving with them and I guess they felt obligated to say yes. They are paying for Dartmouth and that condo after all."

"Dartmouth." Alice's eyes lit up like she had just been given the greatest gift anyone could ever give her, "They're at Dartmouth."

Jasper was grinning from ear to ear.

"No, she had all her finals this week so I guess they're gonna fly out to wherever the foster family lives tonight, spend the week there until after Thanksgiving and then they'll come here."

Alice and Jasper's faces both fell. Even if they left Forks that instant, they couldn't get to New Hampshire and locate Renesmee before nightfall. They went back to the conversation hoping to hear more useful information.

"Okay, I was just gonna run out to the grocery store. You need anything? Yep, I'll pick that up. See you later." Marnie hung up the phone and they could hear her shuffling around the house again.

"Well, she's finally leaving the house." Jasper pointed out, "We'll have a chance to snoop. Maybe we can find a picture. Something concrete to prove to Edward and Bella that Renesmee and Jacob are alive and at Dartmouth."

Alice nodded. She was poised to dash down to the house the second that Marnie left it. She was more anxious then ever to get this evidence and take it back to her family to prove that she was right. They would be so incredibly happy when they found out. She was sure of it.

It seemed like an eternity until Marnie was done showering and getting dressed and gathering her car keys and purse and coupons from around the house before she was ready to leave. Alice and Jasper watched her step out the front door, locking it behind her and heading down the front steps towards her car. They were just about to dash towards the back door of the house when they saw her sigh and turn back around towards the house, so they stopped.

"What could she have possibly forgotten?" Alice growled.

Marnie headed back into the house and they heard her mumbling and shuffling papers in the house until she must have finally found what she was looking for and repeated the process of leaving and getting in the car. She backed out of the driveway and pulled slowly down the street.

Alice turned to dash for the house but Jasper reached out in front of her and stopped her.

"Wait." He said, his eyes never leaving the back of Marnie's car as it reached the end of the street. Her turn signal indicated she was turning left and when she had, disappearing from their immediate view, Jasper removed his arm from in front of Alice. "Okay, go."

No one needed to tell Alice twice. She had dashed to the house and picked the lock on the back door before anyone would have even been able to see the wind from her sudden movement rustle the leaves of the forest. Jasper was right behind her as they entered the familiar Swan residence.

"It's like a time warp. Nothing's changed." Alice mumbled as they walked through the downstairs common rooms, careful to avoid windows where they may be spotted by passerby, "It even smells the same, except for that slight hint of gardenia and wildflowers. At least Marnie smells good."

"There's little hints that a woman lives here now." Jasper fingered the edge of a doily on a table in the hallway that he knew would have never existed when Charlie and Bella lived here alone, "And Charlie's chair has been upgraded. No recent pictures though."

Alice and Jasper both looked over the wall and mantle where pictures were proudly displayed. The most recent pictures were from Edward & Bella's wedding. After that, it was like cameras hadn't existed.

"Well, let's be smart about this. People in this town know Jacob, so it's not like he could just waltz around without being recognized right? So Charlie can't just display pictures of him. What if he had guests come over and ask questions? If Jacob is still fazing, which I assume he is, he hasn't aged a day."

"Yes, but when he stopped aging he looked 26. That's not much younger than he's actually supposed to be these days. He could probably get away with it in this town. I think they'd more question Renesmee and who she is and how she knows Charlie. If they've spent time here, with Charlie and Marnie, do you think people in Forks know she's Edward and Bella's daughter?"

Alice hadn't considered that. Enough time had passed that Renesmee could tell the truth about being a Cullen to anyone who asked and it wouldn't be weird. She could be sixteen and everyone in the town would just assume they had been right and Bella had been pregnant when she got married.

"Doesn't matter." Alice shook her head as if shaking away all the questions she wanted to ask, "We just need to find tangible evidence that she exists so her parents will stop living in denial. Come on, upstairs."

Alice and Jasper moved into the upstairs bedrooms on their search, starting with what had been Bella's room when she lived there.

"The entire house is a time warp." Alice sighed, running her fingers along the edge of the desk to her right, "Bella could walk in right now and it'd be just like when she lived here."

After a few seconds of reminiscing, Alice sighed and turned to investigating. Without messing up a single thing in the room, she thoroughly searched every nook and cranny, looking for anything that might indicate a teenage half vampire had been there recently.

"Who's Carlie Swan?" Jasper picked up a receipt he had dug out of the small trash can by the desk. The signature scrawled on it was unfamiliar but very clearly read "Carlie Swan." It was also the name that was printed on the receipt showing it had been her credit card used to make the purchase. "And why is Carlie Swan buying school supplies?"

The list of items purchased were a match for a typical school supply run for a college student. Pens, notebooks, a laptop computer and a backpack. The receipt was dated for the beginning of September.

"It has to be Renesmee. An alias maybe?" Alice frowned as she reread the receipt, "Her middle name is Carlie. Maybe this is the name she's using at Dartmouth. Maybe this is the name she uses with her foster family, the one she's going to see for Thanksgiving."

"Or maybe we're wrong about this whole thing Alice and Charlie really does have a niece or relative or something that is going to Dartmouth and was here in September buying school supplies." Jasper countered.

Alice shook her head no with a very resolute air of defiance.

"It's too much of a coincidence Jasper. Carlie is Renesmee's middle name. And randomly someone related to Charlie is named that? I don't think so. Besides, if Charlie had other relatives, wouldn't they have come to the Bella and Edwards wedding? He was a party of one that day. He didn't add anyone to the guest list. I've always gotten the feeling that he doesn't have or speak to any members of the family he might have outside of Bella. So, no, Carlie has to be Renesmee. But, on the other hand, this receipt is still not concrete evidence. We need more. Keep looking."

Jasper did what he was told and continued to dig through the trash, coming up with nothing else that may have indicated the true identity of Carlie Swan, one way or the other. When the trash can left him empty handed he began to search the drawers of the desk. He had gone through three drawers of Bella's old school papers when he found it. The tiny corner of a picture, buried beneath a pile of inconsequential nonsense, peeking out, just waiting to be found. He pulled on it and it slid out from the stack of papers easily.

"Alice." Jasper called out, his eyes wide as he stared at the image in his hand, "Alice, come here."

She returned from another room, but not as fast as Jasper would have expected. When he looked up, her own eyes were as wide as his. She held a stack of pictures in her hand.

"I found a picture." Jasper whispered, turning around the picture he held in his hand.

Alice nodded, looking over the image of Jacob and the teenage girl with long bronze curls, kissing on the beach.

"Me too." She handed Jasper the stack of images in her hand.

The pictures were posed. Jacob in a tux. The teenage girl in a ruby red formal gown. They looked like they were headed to prom and there were a lot of pictures in the stack. Multiple poses on multiple sets, some were even candid where they were laughing and falling and clearly having a good time.

"I found those in Marnie's room. In a metal box that was stuffed into the very back of her closet." Alice pulled the box from behind her back and opened the lid, where there were still what appeared to be hundreds of pictures, mostly of the same teenage girl and/or Jacob, "Look under the lid."

Jasper took the box and looked at the bottom side of the lid. This was something the owner had put time into finding, making sure it would be safe wherever she took it, and having it custom made. The bottom of the lid was engraved.

"_Jacob and Renesmee, my family - whenever & wherever they go."_

Jasper and Alice's eyes met. If she could have cried, she would have. She took a picture from the top of what remained in the box. It was just Renesmee, laughing as she sat somewhere in the forest, her hair blowing in the wind and sparkling in the glint of sunlight that made it through the trees.

"They're alive Jasper. I knew they were. I just needed proof and here's our proof."

Jasper took the picture and looked it over, smiling at the clear happiness reflected in his niece's eyes. He looked back up at Alice and smiled.

"So what are we waiting for? It's time to put our family back together."


	21. Identity: Chapter Nineteen

**_Author's Note: Again, I am SOOO sorry it's taken so long to update. I will promise nothing as to when I will update again because I always seem to break those promises. That being said, a HUGE thank you to those who have reviewed and continue to read & review despite the long wait between updates. You guys are my inspiration. Whenever I try to write I come here and read your reviews first and that's what gets me pumped up to continue this story. I hope you like this new chapter! Read on & enjoy. :)  
_**

**Chapter Nineteen**

**The Cullens**

Alice and Jasper burst into the Cullen household almost before anyone heard them on the property. Esme's head snapped up just in time to watch them come to a screeching halt in the living room where she was sitting.

"Where are Edward & Bella?" Alice asked. She was completely composed though her body was heaving as if she were out of breath.

"They went away for the holidays." Esme responded with a frown, "Why do you look as if you've been running for days?"

"We have." Alice groaned, turning to Jasper, "All the way from Forks."

"Forks? Alice why would you go there? You know what kind of risk that is, for all of us." Esme very rarely got irritated but when she did it was serious, and at this second she was getting irritated, "You went looking for them didn't you? After you were expressly told not to."

"We found them." Alice ignored her mother's frustration and held out her hand, several pictures clutched in her grasp, "Esme, they're alive."

The annoyance left Esme's face and she slowly reached for the pictures in Alice's hand. She gasped when she saw the first image and her hand went to her heart, just like a regular human would, as if protecting herself from heart attack.

"Oh, I thought I heard you two come home." Carlisle entered the room from his study then, "Welcome back."

"They went to Forks." Esme whispered, not looking up as she went through the pictures in her hand.

"You did what?" Carlisle got the same look on his face that Esme had gotten just moments before, "You were specifically told,"

"We found them." Alice interrupted, motioning to the pictures in Esme's hand, "Carlisle, we found Renesmee and Jacob. They're alive and perfectly healthy and happy from what I can tell."

Carlisle's mouth fell open and he moved to Esme's side, looking over her shoulder at the pictures in her hand. He saw the picture of Jacob and Renesmee kissing on the beach and the ones of them goofing off in their formal wear.

There was utter silence in the room. No one took a breath. No one moved.

"She's going by Carlie Swan now." Jasper was the first to break the silence, "And she's going to Dartmouth."

"She just finished her first set of finals." Alice added.

"I have so many questions." Carlisle shook his head in disbelief, "I'm not sure where to start."

"I can probably guess." Alice guided her bewildered vampire parents to the couches in the living room and they all sat down, "I'd like to explain to the whole family at the same time though. Where did Edward and Bella go? Where are Rose and Emmett?"

"Rosalie and Emmett are out hunting. They should be back soon. Edward and Bella just said they were going away for the holidays. Paris maybe. They'll be back after Christmas." Esme explained.

"Well we need to call them and get them back here. We know that Renesmee and Jacob will be in Forks for Christmas. That's the only window we have to get them back; to reunite our family." Alice insisted.

"They didn't take phones. Said they needed to be alone for awhile with no contact. We have no way of contacting them." Carlisle shook his head, "So, you didn't talk to Renesmee and Jacob? Did you see them? Did anyone see you?"

Alice and Jasper both shook their heads no.

"We camped out in a tree and spied on Charlie and the woman who lives with him until I overheard a phone conversation that I was positive was Renesmee. They talked about her finals at Dartmouth and her having to spend Thanksgiving with her foster family but coming to Forks for Christmas."

"Foster family?" Esme frowned.

"We don't know the details." Alice shrugged, "That's what they said. Obviously we couldn't just go in and ask so we waited until the house was empty and then we went in and searched. That's how we found these pictures. Most of them came from a chest in the woman's room, her name is Marnie, and she seems to know the truth about them. The chest was inscribed to say _"Jacob and Renesmee, my family - whenever & wherever they go." _She made a joke on the phone with Renesmee too, about having forever to redo college if she doesn't get it right the first time."

Carlisle and Esme were quiet. They sat and digested all the information. Alice watched them, tapping her leg impatiently.

"So, what do we do?" She finally asked, "I can find Edward and Bella by looking for their futures. We'll go get them, tell them what we know, and all convene in Forks. Find a way to get Renesmee and Jacob alone so we can talk to them. Bring them back home."

Carlisle shook his head no this time.

"We need a plan. There's too many unknowns. We don't know why they're still alive when the Volturi very clearly told us they were not. I don't know how it's possible for them to have lied to us at all. Edward can read their thoughts. He would have known they were lying back then." Carlisle growled, "That's not the point though. We don't know anything about who they are now or if they even want to see us. I mean, why did they never come looking for us if they've been alive this whole time? Why couldn't we ever find them? Where have they been? Who's this Marnie woman? Is she human?"

"She's definitely human." Jasper assured Carlisle, "We watched her and Charlie for days. She has a heartbeat and she sleeps and she interacts with Charlie perfectly."

"Her room smells human too. She smells like lilac." Alice added.

"Smelling humans again are we?" Emmett strode into the room confidently, throwing himself into the nearest chair with Rosalie following close behind, "They do smell good don't they?"

"We're talking about Marnie. The woman who lives with Charlie in Forks and knows everything about Renesmee. The one who had these pictures in a box in her room." Alice retorted, throwing the stack of pictures towards her brother as she watched his expression turn to pure shock, "Yeah, Renesmee and Jacob are alive."

"That's impossible." Rosalie snatched the pictures from Emmett's hands and her eyes grew wider with every image, "Oh my God."

"Carlisle, we can't just sit here and wait until after Christmas when Edward and Bella come back. Don't you think they're gonna be upset with us for not sharing this information immediately? She's their daughter! Plus, we only know one place she'll be for sure and that's Forks for Christmas. It's our only window of opportunity." Alice argued, returning to the point of the conversation they had been at before Emmett and Rosalie interrupted.

"Not true. You said she goes to Dartmouth. She'll be back there after the holidays for the new semester. We can find her there."

"That will be a lot more difficult. We'll have to figure out where she lives and what classes she's taking. We'll have to stalk her." Alice growled, "We can just intervene in Forks. It's sooner and easier."

"We don't need easy Alice. Think this through." Carlisle sighed, "I want her back just as much as you do. I understand your impatience. But we need a plan. We can't let the Volturi know we know where she is, just in case she's still in danger. We need to figure out what Marnie does or doesn't know. Find out if she's in danger for knowing what she knows and if she's told Charlie. And most importantly of all, we need to find out if Renesmee even wants to be found. I think we all need to consider the very real possibility that she doesn't want to see us. It could be the reason why she hasn't come to find us. And if that's the case, it's better Edward and Bella never know what we all know."

"But Carlisle," Alice objected. He cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"We do research and we work together. We need to be very careful because it's going to require us going back to Forks, but without anyone seeing us and without anyone sensing us. Stay away from the reservation. Stay away from our old house. And most importantly, if Edward and Bella do contact us, do not tell them what we are doing."

"We're gonna get our niece back." Rosalie ran her fingers over an image of Renesmee, "She's really alive."

Emmett pulled her into his arms and kissed her temple. He nodded at Carlisle.

"Let's do what we need to. The sooner we get answers, the sooner we can get her back."

"Shouldn't someone stay here, just in case Edward and Bella do come home early? It's going to be awfully suspicious if they come home to an empty house." Esme was the voice of reason, "I can stay."

With a quick nod from Carlisle it was decided. They all packed small bags and headed out of the house. They decided traveling on foot would be much safer than flying. If they were still being monitored by the Volturi, 5 of the 8 of them boarding a plane to Washington would definitely throw up a red flag.

They arrived in Forks on Thanksgiving day. Everything was closed; restaurants, stores, even the police station looked deserted. Traveling together, they were very careful to stick to the woods, monitoring the town from the outskirts; watching, waiting and listening.

"I wish the kids could have come home for Thanksgiving. I miss them." Marnie sighed inside Charlie's house.

Alice, Jasper and Carlisle watched her through a window as she moved around the kitchen comfortably, swatting Charlie's hand as he tried to steal a bit of mashed potatoes.

"Dinner will be ready in 20 minutes Charlie. Have some patience." She scolded and he frowned, rubbing his hand as if she'd actually hurt him.

"Easy woman. That's my trigger hand." Charlie pretended to be seriously injured but Marnie just laughed loudly.

"As if you need to ever pull the trigger in Forks. Is there even crime here?"

Charlie laughed back at her, dropping his "injured" hand to his side.

"A few vandalisms, mostly kids pulling silly pranks. Nothing serious." He responded, "Doesn't mean I shouldn't be ready just in case."

Marnie rolled her eyes and shook her head, smiling.

"I'm sorry for hitting your trigger hand then. Keep it out of my mashed potatoes."

"Yes ma'am." Charlie fake saluted her and then grabbed a beer from the fridge and headed for the living room, "I'll be watching football. Yell if you need me."

"Sure thing." Marnie was still smiling as she watched him retreat and she went back to cooking, humming quietly as she flitted around the small kitchen.

"They're gonna be a great couple when they finally decide to tell each other how they feel." Alice sighed.

"Should you really be poking into their futures Alice?" Emmett teased as he and Rosalie joined them in the tree they were spying from.

Alice stuck her tongue out but Carlisle ignored their banter.

"You find anything?" He asked.

Emmett and Rosalie shook their heads, turning to the business at hand.

"The woods surrounding the house are clear. No trace of vampire or wolf except very faint but distinct patches of Jacob's scent. I'd know that scent anywhere." Rosalie shuddered, "Anyway, no one's monitoring Charlie personally that we can tell. Unless the Volturi are somehow monitoring him remotely, I don't think they're in any danger, even if they do know the truth about Jacob & Renesmee."

"We can't count out the remote monitoring yet, but it's good no one has been here recently to personally check on them." Carlisle went back to watching Charlie & Marnie in the house, "Even if someone was watching them, you can tell they're not a threat. They don't even use Renesmee & Jacob's names in conversation."

"They always refer to them as the kids." Alice agreed, "I noticed that the first time we were here. They're very careful, as if they know they might be being watched."

"That would mean they know the truth." Carlisle sighed, "Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing."

Before anyone could reply, a small black sports car pulled up and stopped outside the house. The Cullens sat frozen, surprised by this appearance. In all of their spying so far, they hadn't heard anything about Charlie & Marnie expecting company.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. The passenger side door swung open and a girl with long auburn curls stepped out of the car so gracefully that she made no sound. The driver side door released a tall, dark Quileute man who turned and grinned as the girl with auburn curls practically jumped into his arms. They laughed together, at an audible that only the superhuman could hear. She placed a finger against her lips to indicate they should both be quiet and together they walked quietly to the front door. They were both smiling wide, clearly amused with themselves in pulling off this surprise.

One knock. Two knocks. Three knocks. Charlie swung open the front door and gasped.

"Marnie!" He called out, "They're here!"

If vampires could feel complete & utter shock, the Cullens were feeling it as they watched Marnie rush from the kitchen and greet Jacob & Renesmee in the doorway. She was squealing happily as she hugged them both. Charlie was beaming, ushering them into the house while Marnie fussed over them.

"What are you doing here?" She finally asked as the front door closed behind them, "I thought you were spending Thanksgiving with your foster family."

Renesmee shrugged.

"We lied." She said nonchalantly.

Rosalie sighed as the first sounds of Renesmee's voice hit her ears.

"It's really her." She whispered, clutching herself to Emmett's chest, "She's right there."

"Didn't anyone teach you that lying is bad?" Charlie fake scolded his granddaughter.

"Well Grandpa, since I grew up without parents…" Renesmee retorted quickly.

The mood shifted, in the house and in the trees. The Cullens stopped breathing, waiting for her to say something about her parents that might answer their questions. Did she know they were alive? Did she want to see them?

"Nessie, why do you have to bring that up?" Jacob sighed, pulling her into his arms and kissing the top of her head, "You're a smart ass to your own detriment sometimes."

"Detriment. That's a big word Jake." Renesmee pulled out of his embrace and winked at him, "I was joking. No need for everyone to get serious. Let's be happy. Come on. This is a good surprise, right?!"

The Cullens exhaled and their shoulders slumped. No answers to their questions yet.

"Yes, very good surprise." Marnie hugged Renesmee and kissed her cheek, "Now back to the kitchen for me before I burn the rest of the food. You come help me. Jake, you want a beer? You can watch the game with Charlie."

"That's right, women in the kitchen. Men in front of the TV." Jacob playfully slapped Renesmee's butt as she scurried into the kitchen.

Charlie glared at him.

"Watch those hands Jacob. My gun is just in the other room."

Jacob's face fell.

"Yes sir."

"I can't believe they're right there and we can't just go down there and say something to them." Emmett growled as they continued to observe, "I mean, obviously everyone in that house knows the truth. If we make sure no one else in Forks sees us, why can't we just go talk to them?"

"We still don't know enough Emmett." Carlise said calmly, "We need to surmise whether Renesmee & Jacob know we're alive. Whether they want to see us or not. We need more information. We can't just barge in there."

"We can't just sit up here and watch them interact like the perfect little family." Rosalie objected. "That should be us they're surprising for Thanksgiving. We're their family."

"So are Charlie & Marnie." Carlisle reasoned, "Patience Rose. Have a little bit of patience. Our time to reveal ourselves will come."

"I think our time just ran out." Jasper said suddenly and the entire group turned back towards the house.

Jacob & Renesmee were both standing on the porch, standing defensively, looking directly at where the Cullens were perched in the tree line.

"They heard us." Alice spoke softly, "They have sensitive hearing too. We were too loud."

"Stay here." Jacob commanded Renesmee as he took one step off the porch.

She followed right behind him.

"Ness, I'm serious. Go back in that house with Charlie & Marnie."

"Jake, you don't know what's out there. I'm not letting you go alone." Renesmee argued, "Whispering in the trees is not safe."

"They don't know it's us." Jasper's whisper was so quiet even his family sitting next to him barely heard him, "We can run."

"Renesmee, go inside. It's not safe which is why I need you to stay. Protect Marnie & Charlie. I will be right back."

Jacob took another step towards the Cullen's hiding spot.

"No running." Rosalie whispered just as softly, "We want them to find us."

"Carlisle just explained to you that it's not that easy Rose." Alice hissed.

"Jake." Renesmee called out from the porch. She didn't move but her voice was pleading, "Be careful."

He took one look back at her and then went bounding towards the tree line.

"Time's up for a decision." Carlisle said quietly and he dropped from the tree, landing on his feet on the forest floor in the dense woods just as Jacob burst through.

Jacob stopped cold as the rest of the Cullens dropped to Carlisle's side.

"Hello Dog." Rosalie crooned, a smirk crossing over her features, "I have to say. I've never been happier to see you."


End file.
